Blue Roses
by Dance.Smartly
Summary: COMPLETE! Tragedy. Lies. Deception. Dark Magic. And that's just the beginning of everyday problems for Cedric and Skye.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, though I'm sure we all wish we did. And...this isn't a disclaimer, really...but don't copy my stuff. I'll track you. And use violence. Moving on...

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter one: The Grindylows

Some people think of Teen Love and smile. It's not _real_ love, they say. Puppy Love, they call it. Those people, I think, have very short memories, and no longer recall the realities of their first love experiences. While few expect teen love to last a lifetime, that hardly makes it less real. Half or more of all adult love doesn't last a lifetime either. Teen love is very real. And powerful. Perhaps at no other time in our lives are the joys and pains felt as strongly, or experienced more deeply. Who among us, after all, can ever forget our first love?

Skye Cunningham ran towards the large doors at the front of the school, her arms outstretched. She stopped just before she nearly slammed into the set of doors, and doubled over, clutching her rib cage. She took a few deep breaths, and tossed back her long black-red hair. She opened the doors slowly, to hear a loud voicing speaking to a murmuring audience.

"Now, just a few announcements before supper..."

BANG.

Skye opened the large doors into the great hall, and every student sitting at four long tables whipped their heads around to stare at her, completely silent. There was a man with a long white beard and even longer white hair who had his arms open and must have been the one previously addressing the audience. He was standing at a table lined with adult witches and wizards, whom Skye presumed were the teachers, here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He lowered his arms and stared at Skye, who was still out of breath. There was an older witch standing in front of the teacher's table, who was clutching a frayed hat in one hand and a stool in the other.

"Name?" she asked slowly, after a long 30 seconds of pausing.

"Skye...Cunningham," she breathed, "Sorry I'm late...I was...attacked...by grindylows. On the way here."

The entire hall went dead silent, apart from a fly who buzzed above Skye's head.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. You almost missed the sorting, good timing, my dear!" the older man called to her. "Come take a seat and we shall sort you into your house."

Skye took a tender step, and there was a collective gasp throughout the four long tables. She ignored her awestricken peers and moved to the front of the hallway, where the older witch had placed the stool back down. Skye faced her audience, took a deep breath, and sat. The older witch slowly placed the frayed hat on Skye's head, and Skye jumped when the hat began to talk to her.

"Lateness unseen!" the hat declared. "You are obviously neither smart nor cunning, to end up here, with everyone staring at you."

"_I'm sorry, it was..."_

"Yes, yes, I heard, the grindylows. You are a kind soul, but you seem to be brave enough. Hmm...I'll say...HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted the last word to the crowd.

Skye continued sitting, unsure what to do.

"Get up! Get up!" the older witch said, pulling the hat off Skye and ushering her towards a table which had students who were clapping lightly. Skye looked down the table, and saw no welcoming faces. She began to walk between her long table and another long table. She saw a long, lanky, pimply boy sitting by himself and plopped herself beside him. He gave her the funniest look, that read 'why on earth are you sitting next to me?'. As soon as she sat down, the hall erupted into talking.

"Skye Cunningham," she said, extending her hand to the boy.

"C...Cedric. Cedric Diggory," he mumbled. "I'm a first year too."

"While, I'm sure your first day was much better than mine."

"Grindylows?" he asked shyly.

"I was in the last boat with a group of larger boys, from that table," she pointed to a neighboring table, full of large bruits, who were pointing and laughing at her, "and the boys pushed me into the lake, and I got attacked by grindylows! The boys just laughed..." she sighed and closed her soft green eyes.

"Those are the Slytherins," Cedric said, pointing to the table, "those people are known for being cunning, and sneaky. I find they're all just gits."

Skye laughed softly.

"Those, at the table past them, are the Gryffindors. They're known for their bravery. Most popular house here. The ones behind us are the Ravenclaws, the most intelligent, and we are the Hufflepuffs. The kind ones, the ones who don't fit into the other houses..."

"The ones who never get the glory!" A boy, taller and much more handsome and muscular than Cedric but still resembling him, said. "I'm Brayden Diggory, Cedric's older brother. Nice to meet you Skye, and thanks for bringing some attention to Hufflepuff, rather than our usual bad luck."

"Good to know I accomplished something," she said, smiling.

Brayden leaned over the table and whispered to Skye, "And thanks for talking to Cedric. Before coming here, he didn't have a single friend...look at those pimples, how could he?"

Skye broke out in bubbly laughter, and Cedric blushed.

"It's not my fault." he muttered.

Brayden smiled a gorgeous smile, "Well I wasn't...OH! LYNELLE!" he cried out, as a very pretty blonde girl sat next to him, "I missed you ever so!"

Skye sighed as Brayden and the girl named Lynelle began kissing.

"They've been dating for 2 years now. Watching them snog every time she comes to visit is like watching two blast-ended screwts going at it!" Cedric whispered to Skye. She laughed softly, and smiled at Cedric.

Cedric began to take in Skye. She had long legs and was skinny, and looked like she still needed to grow into herself. She had a heart-shaped face, and seemed tan. She had large lips and a button nose, and unique green eyes with a blue ring around them. She had long eyelashes and a very nice smile. Her hair was long, and black with a red tint. Suddenly, without warning, her hair turned a shocking shade of blue.

"Your hair!" Cedric exclaimed, jumping back slightly.

"Oh...not again..." Skye sighed, "I'm a metamorphmagus. I can change my appearance at will...but I still have yet to figure out the 'at will' part yet." Cedric and Skye laughed. "I can sometimes make it change like this..."

Skye squinted her eyes, looking like she was concentrating hard. Suddenly, her nose grew long and had a wart on it.

"That seems to be all I can do...make myself look uglier."

"Well, I think you look pretty anyways." Cedric said, turning a violent shade of scarlet, realizing what he had said.

"I..." Skye was interrupted as food suddenly appeared before them, every type of food in the world. Pork, steak, fish, vegetables, potatoes...

"Dig in!" the older man shouted out. Skye laughed as Cedric launched into his food like a hyena onto raw meat.

The next day, after Skye and Cedric had suffered their first classes, they sat together by the fire in the Hufflepuff common room. Brayden took a seat on the floor between the two.

"Hey little bro!" he said, ruffling Cedric's hair, "hey Skye. How was your first day of classes?"

"Oh, they were a dream!" Cedric said, sarcastically.

"History of Magic was so fascinating!" Skye declared, rolling her eyes.

"And oh, Herbology was so fun outside in the rain!"

"Not to mention topping the day off with potions with Professor Snape. I really think he took a liking to me, yelling at me for not sitting down fast enough and giving me, only me, a pop quiz on bezoars." Brayden raised his eyebrows, "When I couldn't answer what one of the sicknesses bezoars can cure, he gave me a two-foot long essay on the properties and uses of one! Not to mention I can only get 20 inches..."

"Here, give it to me," Brayden said, "I've always been good at potions, but Professor Snape never fancied me much, either."

Brayden took the parchment from Skye and began scribbling madly, while beside him Cedric worked on his History of Magic questionnaire. Skye sunk deep into her chair, and closed her eyes. Her cat, Tia, who was slender, black and beautiful, jumped on Skye's lap, and Skye began to pet Tia absent-mindedly.

After about 15 minutes, Brayden handed the essay back to Skye, declaring it "done and done". He then went off to spend time with Lynelle.

"I can't take this!" Cedric threw down his parchment, "I'm sick of doing History of Magic! I'm going to bed, goodnight!" And with that, he stomped upstairs.

Skye sighed, picked up her book bag, and headed up to the girls dormitories. She fell down onto her bed, and closed her eyes. She saw, in her mind, a picture of Brayden. She opened her eyes quickly. She closed them, and saw Brayden again. She opened them again. She rolled over, and looked out the window at the rising full moon. She gave a sigh, knowing an uneasy sleep was ahead of her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ooh! Hope y'all like it! Sorry it's so short, they will be longer. Everyone does fanfics based on one of the four Harry Potter books, so I figured, why not set up one a little earlier? Things can be interesting before Harry Potter was in the picture, too. Review, please, give me constructive criticism, or the regular type. Or nice comments are loved, too! Oh, and I love Cedric.


	2. Chapter 2

And the tears come streaming down your face  
When you lose something you can't replace  
When you love someone but it goes to waste  
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home  
And ignite your bones  
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below  
When you're too in love to let it go  
But if you never try you'll never know  
Just what you're worth

-Coldplay. Song: Fix you

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter two: Step Right up...

Brayden came up behind Skye, and wrapped his arms around her tender waist. He began kissing her neck, and down her shoulder. He took her tiny, silky strap in his teeth and threw it off to the side, causing the other strap to fall, and her shirt fell to the floor. Skye took a deep breath in, then exhaled. She turned around, and looked deep into Brayden's eyes before kissing him tenderly. She moved her hands down his neck, and touched his muscled chest. She unbuttoned the first button...the second button...the third...she began kissing down his chest as she undid more and more buttons. She kissed him sensually on the lips, and slowly slipped his shirt off his muscular shoulders. Brayden's hands began to slip down her front, exploring...

Skye sat up quickly, breathing fast and sweating. She looked around, checking. _Just a dream..._ she thought. _Brayden isn't doing THAT to me...just a dream..._

She sighed and turned around, so her legs were draped over the side of her bed. Yes, Brayden was cute. Brayden was also a 5th year, and happy with another girl. He was just so...perfect...

Skye got up out of bed, looked at the clock (5:30 a.m.!) and decided to work on her History of Magic essay.

She stalked down the stairs, quietly as possible, as not to wake the other Hufflepuffs. She walked down into the common room and, to her surprise, sleeping in one of the chintz armchairs by the fire was Brayden. Skye's cat, Tia, was lounging on his lap, asleep as well.

"Brayden?" she asked tenderly. "Are you awake?"

He jumped up, sending Tia flying. "Gee, Skye, I was sleeping!"

"Sorry," Skye said, staring at the floor, "I just thought that wouldn't be the most comfortable place to spend the rest of the night."

Brayden stood up, and stretched his arms. "I was trying to work on a Care of Magical Creatures essay...that didn't go too well. Thanks for waking me, I suppose it was uncomfortable..."

He stood up and walked up beside Skye, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, causing her to turn a violent shade of scarlet. "Goodnight."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few weeks passed uneventfully, spare Professor Snape constantly throwing NEWT level questions at Skye.

"What's the main component of Veritiserum?"

"Your grease." Skye retorted, angered, as this was the second time he had asked a question that day.

"I think a week's detention will do."

Though Potions was a complete drag, there were other classes to improve their days. Professor Flitwick had taken an unusual liking to Skye, because she was a metamorphmagus. He would often call upon her in class, and whenever she managed to change her appearance into something new, he would reward Hufflepuff house points. On Wednesday, when Skye managed to have her hair grow to her lower back and turn platinum blonde, Professor Flitwick got so excited he fell off his stack of books, causing the class to break out in laughter.

It was Friday, a day where the sun shone and there was but a light breeze. Cedric and Skye were outside, getting a head start on their Transfiguration homework before Skye had to go to her last detention with Snape, when Cedric surprised her with a surprising question.

"I know we've only been friends for a few weeks, but I feel like I know so much about you..." he started.

"Yes! Agreed!"

"And...I wanted to know if you'd like to come to my house for Christmas vacation."

Skye straightened up. Yes, she'd love to go to Cedric's house for Christmas. But it brought back thoughts of her home life. It brought back thoughts of...

"Skye? You ok?"

"I'm going to detention. Better early than late. Meet me in the Great Hall at 9."

Skye stood up and walked briskly towards the castle.

_No...no thinking about home...about...him. He ruined it, he ruined her..._

Skye was trapped in her thoughts as she performed a few basic tasks before walking downstairs into the dungeons. She sighed, and opened the door.

"Sit."

Professor Snape quickly conjured a chair, and Skye sat.

"Let's talk."

"Let's not," Skye retorted. "Let's just get on with the detention, already."

"As you wish," he pointed to the hundreds of jars, lining up on many shelves, containing odd animal assortments. "I want them clean, no magic. When you are done, we talk."

Skye grunted and grabbed an old cloth, walking up to the closest jar. She began to wipe, and the thing inside it (was it a baboon's bottom?) began to wriggle. She shuttered, and continued wiping.

As time passed, she would occasionally feel Snape breathing down her neck, declaring that she missed a spot. She never spoke, until every jar was sparkling. She began to double check them when...

"Sit. Now. We're talking."

"Let's not." Skye retorted.

"Why won't you talk to me?" he asked, surprisingly calm.

"You ruined my life!" Skye shouted back at him, throwing one of the jars at him, "You ruined my life, and you ruined her!"

"_Reparo,"_ he muttered. "She was asking for it." he said to Skye

"No one asks for what you left her with!" Tears began streaming down Skye's face.

"She..."

"Was too good for you? Was too naive? Was too much in love?"

Snape stood up, looming over Skye. "She was just too foolish."

Skye let out a scream, and began taking jars from the wall and throwing them at him, while screaming profanities.

"SKYE! STOP IT!"

Skye looked into his dull eyes, stared him down momentarily, and ran out the door of his office.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye wasn't in her classes the next day, or the day after that. Cedric would pull up a chair at the bottom of the girls' dormitories (he wasn't allowed up into them) and wait for Skye to come down. She didn't, for four days straight.

"Hey! Ally!" he called, to a fellow Hufflepuff first year. "Can you go and see if Skye's gonna come down?"

The girl shook her head. "We've tried, Ced. Go to bed...maybe she'll be better tomorrow."

Cedric nodded, but continued sitting. He stayed there, bobbing between the sleeping and waking worlds, until he heard soft footsteps creeping down from the dormitories. He stood up, and was delighted to see Skye standing. She looked frazzled; her hair was short, wispy, and a dirty blonde. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she was wearing unkempt jeans and a t-shirt. When Skye spotted Cedric, she looked shocked, but almost happy.

"Skye!" he called softly.

She swallowed, and walked towards him, embracing him in a big hug. "Oh, Cedric, I'm so sorry...it's just...it's just..."

"You wanna talk about it?" Cedric asked.

"Take a seat, and a cup of coffee, because I have a lot of explaining to do..."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know, I know, it's so short. But next chapter will be great! I promise you! Long and full of twists and surprises (get your head out of the gutter!)

P.S. if you didn't figure it out, italic is thoughts and spells.

P.P.S. From now on, I'm going to have either song lyrics, poems, quotes, or etc. things headlining my chapters. If I put song lyrics, and you listen to the chapter, it sometimes makes it so much better. Or, it just sets the mood for it.


	3. Chapter 3

_For me, words are a form of action, capable of influencing change._ -Ingrid Bengis

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter Three: Where have all the good people gone?

After Skye told Cedric of her past, she realized the sun was rising, and people were entering the common room. Skye walked up to a mirror, scrunched her face, and lengthened and thickened her hair and turned it a dark brown. She pulled an elastic from her pocket and put her hair up in a ponytail.

The entire time she had spoken, Cedric had not said a word, but had been in complete shock. He stared at her with his mouth open as she began to shuffle around the common room, her mood dramatically improved after spilling her secrets to Cedric. She sat back down beside him.

"You realize you're the only person that knows this outside of the family, right?"

Cedric nodded.

"Can we keep it that way?"

Cedric nodded once again.

"What's up, Ced? You haven't said anything for 3 hours."

"How do you do it?" Cedric asked, looking at Skye with awe.

"How do I do...what?"

"Live, and be so happy, with everything that's happened. Your mom, your dad..."

"I have friends like you."

Skye beamed at Cedric, and he smiled back.

"That's what I wanted to hear."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, Skye and Cedric were scheduled to have flying lessons with the other Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first years after classes. For both of them, they had disastrous beginnings; when Skye called _Up!_ to her broom, it knocked her hand to the side and shot up about 20 feet in the air. Meanwhile, for Cedric, he continued calling _Up!_ in frustration, but his broom remained stationary.

"Did I break it?" Cedric asked Skye.

"Well, I'm not sure," began Skye, "but I think I broke mine." Her broom had just collided with the Whomping Willow, which was beating it to a pulp.

Cedric sighed. "I really want to get this to work..." he stared at the broom, a determined look on his face, and it flinched a little. He continued staring, before muttering _Up!_ and having the broom fly into his hand. Skye gave a little cheer at his talent.

"All you have to do," Madam Hooch called out to the group, "is throw your leg over the broom, and steer it in the general direction you wish to go. Please, if you are out of control, just shout. On your marks..."

Cedric lifted his leg over his broom.

"Get set..."

Cedric tightened his grip, and muttered, "my brother can do this so can I..."

"GO!"

Cedric felt his feet being lifted off the ground as the broom shot upwards. There was a great rushing feeling as he went higher...higher...he swerved to the left, and with grace the broom took a sharp left, and he flew in the direction of the Quidditch pitch. He then took a right, and headed towards the Forbidden Forest. He was approaching the forest when...the whistle blew, and Cedric knew he must return to the ground.

"Cedric!" Skye cried, when he touched down. "That was amazing flying! That was so cool!" she began bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Cedric held his broom in front of her. "Here, you go for a spin." Skye let go of the broom so it hovered beside her, and swung her leg over.

Cedric stood beside her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Just give it a little push-off..." he whispered in her ear.

Skye kicked off the ground, feeling the wind wash through her hair momentarily, before the broom bucked her off, sending her flying face first into the ground. Cedric ran over to her, and she sat up laughing.

"While, I guess I'm not a natural like you are, Ced." Cedric beamed at Skye for the compliment, and held his hand out for her.

"Just try again, I'm sure you'll get it."

Skye tried again, but this time her broom veered a sharp left and she went flying off to the right. She landed on her wrist painfully, and was sent to the hospital wing, escorted by Cedric.

"That went well," she said through gritted teeth, then slightly sarcastically, "I'm so glad I came out unscathed."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Name one component of Polyjuice Potion."

Professor Snape had spoken to Skye for the first time in days.

"A part of the person you are trying to duplicate," she answered properly, "you could use hair, skin, blood-"

"Don't sass me!" Snape sniped back at her, "detention, my office, 5 o' clock today."

Skye rolled her eyes and Cedric shook his head, looking down at the ground.

Skye sighed and bent down at the spare piece of parchment in front of her, and began taking the notes Professor Snape had put on the board, anger in her written words.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cedric and Skye were sitting together on the edge of the lake, classes having ended. Endless homework piled beside them, and they both scribbled madly.

Cedric looked out onto the lake, watching it sparkle in the sunlight. He saw a slight ripple in the water, and realized it was probably the octopus. Realizing his hands were painfully cramping up, he passed Skye a water bottle. "Take a break. I wanted to ask you if you've thought about...Christmas at my house." Cedric blushed a slight pink at the mention of it.

"Yeah...that's what I wanted to know, too," a confident voice said from the trees behind them, "our Christmases are dead boring, and it would be nice to have a little change."

Brayden sat down, and Skye looked from him to Cedric. "Staying at Hogwarts, or going to your house?" she thought aloud. "I think I'll choose your house."

"Thanks, Skye," Cedric said, giving her a quick hug, "now my dad can realize that I'm not a complete loner kid!"

The three laughed lightly, and Skye gave a glance at her watch. "4:30...I ought to get going for Professor Snape's detention. I'll see you guys at supper!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye collected her things, stood up, and headed off towards the castle. She glanced back momentarily to see Brayden grabbing the bottom of his shirt and pulling it off his muscular shoulders, while Cedric awkwardly pulled his off. She saw them both jump into the lake, sighed, and continued walking up to the castle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brayden watched Skye walk off gracefully, her shoulder-length red hair bobbing. He turned to Cedric and asked if he wanted to take a swim, and Cedric agreed. He jumped into the cool water and felt a chill run up his spine. Cedric swam up beside him, and they watched Skye disappear into the trees.

"How much?" Brayden asked Cedric.

"A lot." Cedric replyed.

"Why don't you do anything about it, little bro?"

"I just...can't. I don't have a chance..."

"You never know unless you try."

Cedric sighed. "I'll think about it."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye knocked on the door to Professor Snape's office, and opened the door. She didn't see Professor Snape, so she decided to sit down and continue on her homework. She took out her Astronomy homework, and scribbled down planets on a star chart for about 20 minutes. She then heard a soft _click_ and a voice in the shadows.

"Tell me now. Why can't we be friends?"

Skye stood up and turned around, realizing she was facing Professor Snape.

"You fool. Friendship? I can barely take you as a teacher."

"Don't get started on that crap." his voice was raising.

"That crap? That crap! How about the crap you put me through for 8 years, how about that? Or the crap you put her through for 20, how about that?"

"She needed that crap to pull her out of her so-called perfect world."

"Have you ever thought that maybe she enjoyed that perfect world?" Skye, at this point, was almost screaming.

"Perfect worlds always crash. I just cushioned her fall."

"CUSHIONED?" Skye ran to the door of Snape's office, and threw it opened. "If you consider ENDING IT cushioning it, then you did a very good job of cushioning it!"

"Skye, I..."

Skye slammed the door in Snape's face, and began walking briskly down the hall by his dungeons. She heard him open and close the door behind him, and he ran up behind her.

"I had to do it, otherwise..."

"If you really loved her, you would have valued her life above that of your own."

"I did love her! That's why I did it so that..."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR PETTY EXCUSES!"

Skye was continually trying to run away from Snape, but he wanted to settle this.

"Skye, listen to me..."

Skye pushed the doors open to the Great Hall, which was full of students, due to the fact it was around suppertime. Snape ran in behind her, and Skye saw Cedric stand up.

"Hey! Everybody! I have something to tell you all!"

The room went as silent as when Skye entered the room on her first day.

"This man," she pointed to Snape, "as you all know, ruined many lives in his reign as a Death Eater. But I bet none of you know the one death that he caused.

"It all began many years ago, when greaseball here was a student, just like you or I." Skye was walking towards the teachers table, where all the teachers, spare Dumbledore, were looking completely shocked. Dumbledore had an amused look on his face. "He met a wonderful girl, the only girl that talked to him in the entire school. She was kind to him...he ruined her. When he joined the Death Eaters, he forced her to join, henceforth dragging her down with him!"

Skye took a pause, and a few people pointed at her and muttered. When she continued talking, the room went silent.

"She was loyal to him for 10 long years, even when she was pregnant. She was loyal to the Dark Lord, but only because her one true love was. She had a child, and the Dark Lord wanted her child's head on a plaque. So the Dark Lord gave orders for the girl to kill her own child.

"Out of the goodness of her heart, she could not do it. She could not kill the thing that she and her love had created. So she told her love that she wanted out.

"'Once you are in, you cannot go out!' he told her. 'Then I want out' she replied. So he did the one thing to her that would get her out; he killed her."

There was a collective gasp between the students, though most seemed confused at why Skye was telling them this.

"Snape took the child, who was then 8, and gave her to his father. He, luckily, had enough heart to not kill her, but rather send her to a harsh home, where she was beaten senseless countless times. Do you think it's right, what he did? For I do not. That woman that he killed...her name was Kami Cunningham. She was my doting mother.

"So how do you like the truth, dad?" she spat at Snape.

And with that, Skye ran out the doors of the Great Hall to the outside, where the darkness swallowed her whole.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: **Yay! A long chapter! I'm sorry about the previous crappy chapters...I hope this one makes everything more interesting. The drama stirs...read and review! Constructive criticism is appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: Thanks a lot to everyone who's reviewed (Sunsun18, cedriclover, Anja Summers, True Roswellian, ellen-sensative-soul, Iris Knotwise, JTRA). I appreciate the support. Let's continue with the story!

_I'm so lost  
I'm barely here  
I wish I could explain myself  
But words escape me  
It's too late  
To save me  
You're too late  
You're too late _

You're cold with disappointment  
While I'm drowning in the next room  
The last contagious victim of this plague between us  
I'm sick with apprehension  
I'm crippled from exhaustion  
And I dread the moment when you finally come to kill me

-blink-182. Song: Stockholm Syndrome

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter four: Standing in the Rain

Skye threw open the doors, and ran blindly into the dark outside, feeling cold sheets of rain pelting her body. She felt her legs carry her, but she was blind because of the tears. She couldn't even hear the cries of the students behind her telling her to return.

She continued running, though her lungs ached and her legs were burning. She continued running until she realized the rain was stopping, because she had ran into a dense brush. She looked behind her, and all she saw were trees. She continued walking forward, wondering where it would lead her, while she collected her thoughts.

_I was so stupid saying that in front of everyone! Now, Snape's one. I've finally broke. We talked about it._

_But know everyone knows the harm that he's caused. _Another part of her said. _You've let anyone know how dangerous he is. Maybe they'll petition to kick him out of the school._

_Maybe they'll kick me out of the school for causing mayhem..._

_Righteous mayhem! You had to do that! Now, you've spared yourself to inform so many others! Isn't that enough justice to you?_

_Sparing myself, yes. Perhaps sparing the only things going for me; my friends, and my school. They'll make me go back to...him._

_They could never! That would be just...wrong. _

Skye found a clearing, in which there was a patch of comfy-looking leaves. She sat down, and realized that she was soaked from head-to-toe, and freezing. She huddled close, and chattered her teeth. She wanted to go back, but she just couldn't. There would be harsh words said, piercing gazes, questions, and Snape, back for revenge.

_Revenge is sweet. He'll use one of his evil potions on you._

She tried to block out her thoughts. What was she thinking, declaring her painful past to the entire school? What sort of fool would do something like that?

_Apparently me._

She sighed, and let out a big puff of air, which could be seen due to the cold late November temperature. She huddled closer to herself, feeling her wet robes sticking to her. Her hair began to grey, while her nose shrunk and her cheekbones hollowed. She began to look oddly aged.

"Who steps into our forest?" Skye heard a dark, deep voice ask.

"I...what?"

There was a harsh laugh, and another voice said, "foolish human. Thinking she can play innocent as she trespasses on our land."

"What should we do with this one? Same as the last one?" the first voice asked.

"No, really, I was just getting going!" Skye said nervously, standing up.

"I think not."

A man (or was it?) stepped out of the brush. He had the head and torso of a man, and the dark silver body of a horse. He was pawing one of his hooves, and looked ready for attack.

"I think so," a familiar voice said, from her left, "and I think you won't have any say in it."

Brayden stepped out into the clearing, Cedric at his heels. He had his wand held out in front of him, and a fearless look was on his face.

"Oh, please, boy, you don't scare us." the silver centaur said. With that, another centaur, this one a roan color, came from out of the brush.

"What has she ever done to you?"

"She has stepped onto our land!"

"It is not your land!"

Brayden bent down to Cedric, and whispered, "get Hagrid" to him. Cedric turned around, and bolted out of the bushes.

"We are the wisest here, it is our land!" the roan centaur began pawing angrily, and two more centaurs, one a chestnut and one a black, stepped out.

"It is anyone who wishes to inhabit it's land! This forest belongs to the school!"

"But is run by us!" the black centaur added.

"Why are we wasting our time with these petty humans? They are but foals!" the chestnut centaur said.

"Step back, Firenze, give them no pity," the silver centaur said, "they brought this upon themselves, especially the boy, you human-lover."

"I am not! I am just being fare!" the centaur named Firenze opposed.

"Enough wasting our time arguing, let us finish these two off!" the black centaur budged in.

"Wait!" Brayden said, and Skye saw panic in his eyes. _He's trying to stall them..._ she thought

"We are so young! She is only 11 and I am but 15!" Brayden knew he wanted small talk, anything to hold the centaurs back. "I know no powerful magic! I am not here to harm you, I just want to take her back! She has just been through an extremely painful situation..."

"You think this forest is a place for serenity?" the roan centaur asked.

"I did not know!" Skye said, tears beginning to stream down her face, "I was just blindly running and...and..."

Three of the centaurs laughed heartily.

"You cannot handle life so you attempt to run away? Shows the true weakness of humans. If you are so upset with your life, why not let us finish it off for you?" the black centaur said, a smile widening his face.

Skye let out a high scream as behind Brayden, the tallest man she's ever seen, at least two times taller than any regular person and three times the berth, with a black shaggy beard and long hair that covered most of his face.

"Bane! Rowan! Tolton! (A/N: I was uncreative with names today) get away fro' her!" the large man said. Skye gasped when she noticed he was carrying a large crossbow.

The three centaurs turned to Hagrid, and the roan one bent down, almost to his knees in a bow, to Hagrid.

"As you wish."

And with that, the roan centaur reared up, turning on his back hooves, and galloped straight towards Skye. Before she could move, she felt him knock her over, and she whacked her head off the ground. She felt his hooves digging into her rib cage, shoulder, and arm. She gave a barely audible moan of pain before seeing blackness.

- - -

Skye awoke a few minutes later, being carried by strong arms. She felt so cold, it was as if she had never felt warm before. Her breathing was labored, and her lungs ached. Every breath out was a shiver, and her teeth clattered. Her vision was blurred, making her carrier unknown, until he spoke.

"She's awake!" he said. "Skye, can you hear me?"

Skye opened her mouth, but shut it tightly as she balled up closer to herself, she was so cold...

"Skye!" Brayden called, shaking her.

She couldn't reply. She heard voices up ahead, and after a few moments, felt people prodding her, whispering to each other.

"Get her a blanket!" she heard a women's voice say, "and cart her off to St. Mungo's! She has hypothermia...yes...I think we should..."

The rest of Professor Sprout's voice was drowned out as, once again, Skye saw blackness.

- - -

**A/N:** Taa-daa! Sorry it took so long...I've been quite busy. The next chapter might not be up for a while, I'm going to New York City from Boxing Day to Jan 3rd, so I'm not sure if I can update. I'll try, though! Hope you like this chapter, new twist coming up soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! This is up a little earlier than expected, yes. Just thought I'd wish everyone a Happy New Year (no drinking and driving!)

_Oh what a tangled web we weave,  
When first we practice to deceive!_

-Sir Walter Scott

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter five: The tangled web of teenagers.

Skye was let out of St. Mungo's hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries two days later, being pronounced healthy. When she returned, it was breakfast time, and a good portion of the school was sitting in the Great Hall. Upon her entrance, her bright pink hair shining in the light of the sunrise, almost three quarters of the school (the students who dislike Professor Snape) began cheering, and a few stood up while clapping. Cedric ran up to her and gave her a hug, escorting her back to her table, where, as she passed people by, she received a few well-earned pats on the back.

As Skye was eating her eggs and gloating over the fact she didn't have to deal with Potions that day, Hagrid came up behind her.

"Its good ter see yeh back, Skye."

"It's good to be back, Hagrid! Thanks so much for helping me! I don't know how I could ever repay you!" Skye stood up and hugged Hagrid.

"Oh...really...it's nuthin'...really...just come to visit me sometime, ok Skye?"

And with that, Hagrid was off.

After classes that day, Brayden, Lynelle, Cedric and Skye sat outside by the lake, laughing and enjoying Butterbeers, thanks to Lynelle's Refilling charm. They also began to make odd toasts, getting odder as more Butterbeer was drunken.

"To Hogwarts!"

"To Hagrid!"

"To you guys!"

"To Butterbeer!"

"To eggs."

"To skis!"

"To eating cheese while playing the violin!"

And so on. As the sun set and the stars began to flick on in the sky, the four lay down to enjoy them, giggling lightly. They had a burping contest, and tried to make star constellations, when Skye decided she was tired, and wished to go inside. Lynelle offered to escort her back to the castle. There was an awkward silence, and when they were out of earshot from Cedric and Brayden, Lynelle began to talk to Skye.

"So, Brayden's taken a real liking to you, after the incident," Skye nodded, trying not to show her happiness at this fact. "You know, him and me have been together for 2 years now," Skye nodded again. "And if you even think about laying a finger on my boyfriend, I will rip you limb from limb, and you'll be angry at yourself for thinking you should even be alive."

Lynelle stomped off into the darkness, leaving Skye staring at her in complete shock.

- - -

The Thursday after Skye returned from the hospital, Brayden, Lynelle, Cedric and herself were sitting in the common room, relaxing, with a few of Brayden's other friends. Skye was trying to learn a Muggle hobby, knitting, which proved to be a lot harder than it seemed. As she poked herself with one of the needles, and gave a mutter of profane language, a 3rd year, by the name of Travis O'Grady, walked over to the group.

"My father was a friend of Professor Snape," he began, "and so is the rest of my family. And you went and said lies, ruining his record, you little shit?" Travis raised his wand menacingly, pointing it at Skye's heart. "I'm just going to have to seek revenge for him, because he can't." Travis opened his mouth, preparing to say an incantation, when Brayden and Lynelle jumped up.

"Petrificus Totalus!" they said together. The spells hit Travis in the chest, and he went as rigid as a board, falling to the ground. Skye's momentary streak of bad luck continued when Professor Sprout stepped into the common room, her face looking gloom.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed, looking at the scene before her. She muttered a counter-jinx, making Travis's body relax, and said, "Brayden! Skye! Mr. O'Grady! Dueling in the common room! Come with me, we are going to see Dumbledore right away!"

Brayden shot a curious look back at Lynelle, who shrugged, and walked off behind Skye and Travis. The group was silent as they walked down the halls. Skye was rubbing her hands together; they were sore from non-magically knitting. Travis had a scowl on his face, and would often shoot dirty looks at either Skye or Brayden. They reached a large stone gargoyle, which Professor Sprout leaned into and muttered something. The gargoyle sprang open to reveal a large spiral staircase, which Professor Sprout stepped on to. Skye paused momentarily, before following Professor Sprout. The staircase carried them to a large wooden door, which Professor Sprout knocked on.

"Come in," a familiar voice said.

The four of them walked in, and Skye began to absorb the large room. There were portraits surrounding it, most of whom were idly twiddling their thumbs, or sleeping, or watching intently at the group that had just entered the room. There were a variety of trinkets that were swiveling and making noise around the walls of the room, and Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, observing Professor Sprout through his half-moon glasses.

"Good evening, Professor Sprout (A/N: I didn't know what her first name is, so pardon me leaving it as that), do what do I owe the pleasure of having you here this fine evening?"

"It was these three," she said, "dueling in the common room. Second time this week for Travis!"

Professor Dumbledore stared at his desk momentarily, before looking up. "Ah yes, Mr. O'Grady, you do seem to enjoy my office, don't you? Fifteen points from Hufflepuff for dueling in the common room, and detention for Mr. O'Grady, tomorrow at 7 o' clock. Mr. Diggory, you are excused for now, and Miss Cunningham, may I have a few moments of your time?"

Travis, looking suddenly confused at why he was there, shuffled out of the common room, Brayden following behind him.

"Professor Sprout, you may leave as well. Keep a closer eye on your students, it is difficult dealing with troublemakers all by myself." he winked at her, and she exited through the wooden door, closing it softly behind her.

"Sit," Dumbledore said, motioning to a chair in front of his desk. Skye sat down, and looked intently at Professor Dumbledore, wondering what on earth he wanted her in his office for. He walked over to a silver instrument, tapped it with his wand, and it began to spin and make odd whirring noises. He tapped it again, and it stopped. He then walked over to an empty bird perch, and said, "Fawkes just left, right before you came in. He's about to molt, anyway, so he's at his worst." Dumbledore shook his head and sat down, folded his hands and stared down at them, deep in thought.

Skye sat, staring at him, awaiting some sort of punishment.

"Sir?" she choked, after about five minutes of waiting. Dumbledore jumped as if he had forgotten she was there. "Why did you wish to speak to me, sir?"

"Ah," he began. "Well, if you haven't guessed, it is in relation to your recent outburst, Miss Cunningham. I wish to discuss some matters with you."

Skye nodded apprehensively.

"What you did, though quite foolish and unruly, was brave. You stood up to your peers, and let go of your past. I don't believe you did this as an act of courage, rather a desperate act; not for attention, no, but to pull weight off your shoulders, am I correct?"

"It was an outburst, sir, of anger and desperation, sir. I was running away from my problems, sir, rather than facing them like a true brave person would."

"I see you've been contemplating things during your time at St. Mungo's. I also see the healers have done wonders," Skye nodded in memory of the healers bustling around giving her various potions that warmed her. "And I am glad to see my students remain healthy. Now, onto more pressing matters.

"You cannot, as you have told us all, remain with your grandfather for summer break, nor with Professor Snape. Therefore, I grant you summer's stay with whomever you wish!"

"May I stay with the Diggory's, sir, at their permission?"

"Yes...I'll see to have that arranged. Now, for other matters, your Potions class is being affected by your outburst, I'm assuming?" Skye nodded. "I shall change your Potions lessons to private ones, then, with Professor Snape."

"WHAT?" she exclaimed. "Pardon me, Professor, but are you crazy? Won't that make the situation worse?"

Professor Dumbledore chuckled. "Worse, my dear? I think some time away from your fellow classmates during Potions classes will aid your relationship with your father. You are dismissed."

Skye stood up, her body numb, in complete shock. It was hard enough dealing with Snape in front of friends, but in private classes? What was Professor Dumbledore thinking?

"Goodnight, Skye."

"Goodnight, Professor."

Skye stepped out the wooden doors, down the stairs and past the stone gargoyle. She began aimlessly wandering the halls, not thinking of the time nor her place. She was in the Transfiguration hallway, passing by an empty classroom, when she heard voices. She pressed her ear up against the door.

"Oh, Charlie, can we be together forever?"

"Oh, we can, you just need to dump that scumbag of a boyfriend of yours."

"Anything for you Charlie!"

She heard slurping sounds, and a girly moan.

"Oh...Charlie..."

Skye looked into a crack in the door, and gasped.

Inside, she saw Lynelle beneath Charlie Weasley, his hand up her shirt as they kissed passionately.

- - -

**A/N:** DUN DUN DUN! The twist is revealed! I shocked you all, I know. This chapter's a bit rough yet, but soon, everything will come together. Hope you enjoyed this, reviews are welcomed!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: Another day, another update. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, hope this one is up to snuff. I'm throwing in a disclaimer because I haven't had one since chapter one. Disclaimer: Though I wish I did, I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, other than the ones I have created myself, and the views expressed are of the author...I don't know what that means, I've just seen it a lot at the beginning of movies. I credit you JK Rowling, for creating Cedric. Oh, and the whole Harry Potter series.

Heartbreak lullaby...  
In the still of the night,  
I can almost feel you lying next to me,  
Like it used to be,  
And its hard to let go,  
When there's always something there reminding me,  
How things could be,  
I've tried to get you off my mind,  
I've tried to play my part,  
But everytime I close my eyes,  
You're still inside my heart,  
Why can't I laugh?  
Why must I cry?  
Everytime we say good-bye,  
Why does it rain,  
Here in my heart,  
Everyday that we're apart,  
Why can't it be,  
Just you and me,  
What will it take to make you see,  
These are the words,  
To my Heartbreak Lullaby,  
Like the stars in the sky,  
You still keep on shining down you're light on me,  
But out of reach,  
And I know that in time,  
You will come back to your senses,  
See the signs,  
And change your mind,  
I try to look the other way,  
And keep my heart on hold,  
But everytime I'm close to you,  
I lose my self-control,  
Why can't I laugh?  
Why must I cry?  
Everytime we say good-bye,  
Why does it rain,  
Here in my heart,  
Everyday that we're apart,  
Why can't it be,  
Just you and me,  
What will it take to make you see,  
These are the words,  
To my Heartbreak Lullaby,  
Why can't I laugh?  
Why must i cry?  
Give me just one good reason why..  
Why does it rain  
Here in my heart,  
Everyday that we're apart,  
Why can't it be,  
Just you and me,  
What will it take to make you see,  
These are the words,  
To my Heartbreak Lullaby...

-A-Teens

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter six: Sing me a lullaby.

Skye ran down the corridor, her only thoughts were of Brayden. She ran down stairs, and SMACK into a suit of armor, which cursed at her as she continued running. She reached the portrait to the Hufflepuff common room, said the password ("Health and Harmony!") and stepped inside, breathless. She saw Brayden challenging one of his friends in a heated game of wizard chess, more of his friends surrounding him cheering as the chess pieces struck each other. Skye sighed, knowing that she felt bad breaking his apparent happiness. She stood at the door, staring at him momentarily, seeing him let out a loud cheer of excitement as he won the game. He stood up and walked over to her, his expression changing from ecstatic to upset as he saw the look on her face.

"Skye? What's wrong?" he placed a hand on her shoulder, and she felt electricity shoot through her arm at his gentle touch. She turned away.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course," he said, walking through the portrait hole. "What's up?"

"Its...its..." Skye looked down at her toes, a tear falling from her eyes. "Its Lynelle. She's..."

Skye began bawling uncontrollably, knowing she was about to break Brayden's eternal, perfect smile. His happiness that he spread to others. Being around him was a natural high, and Skye knew that was partially because of his perfect relationship with Lynelle.

Skye looked up into Brayden's bright blue eyes (A/N: Yes, Cedric's are grey, but I thought Brayden sounded better with blue) and said, "She's cheating on you."

- - -

Travis O'Grady walked up the stairs to the boys dormitories, before absent-mindedly lying down. He rubbed his forehead. He had a headache, and no memory of the past hour.

_It must be a sickness,_ he thought. _I'll go visit Madam Pomfrey tomorrow_.

He had wondered how on earth he had showed up in Dumbledore's office, being told off for dueling, which he didn't do. He rolled over, wondering what on earth was wrong with him. This had been the second time this week he had had an odd blackout, and ended up in Dumbledore's office. He shut his eyes and was in a state of half-sleep when he heard a noise by his bed.

"I'm not done with you yet, Travis_. Imperio_ ."

Travis's eyes opened, and they had turned an odd shade of light blue. He sat up quickly, and like a robot stepped out of his bed and down to the common room, a look of maniacal happiness on his face.

- - -

Brayden's face sank, a look of desperation in his face. He then broke into a smile.

"Very funny, Skye. Good joke. Is Lynelle gonna pop out of that suit of armor and wish me a Merry Christmas? Yeah! That's it! That's why you guys were talking earlier, it's all a plan! You're good, really good..."

"Brayden. This is no joke. This is real."

Brayden grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her as if he were about to shake the truth out of her.

"Brayden, please..."

"Show me."

Skye grabbed Brayden by the wrist, and ran back past the suit of armor, up the stairwell, and down the corridor. She stopped when she was by the classroom. She heard moaning coming from it.

"Brayden, if you still don't believe me, you can open that door and have your heart ripped in two. Or, you can believe me, and deal with her tomorrow."

Brayden stared between the door and Skye, desperation in his eyes. He walked towards the door, and opened it slowly. Skye heard a feminine scream, and Brayden slammed the door, his eyes wide, face pale like a ghost. He fell to his knees, and fell onto the floor in the fetal position. He began biting his fingers, then clawing the floor. He managed to rip up one of the tiles, and he began to hit himself with it. He stood up, took the helmet off a suit of armor and threw it down the corridor. He took his wand, pointed at the suit of armor and began screaming at it, causing it to explode, and sending pieces of metal flying everywhere.

Lynelle stepped out of the room. "STOP IT!" she cried out. "STOP IT, PLEASE!"

Brayden stopped. He turned to her, a vicious look on his face. He pointed his wand at her. Skye reacted quickly.

"_Expelliarmus!_" she said. The spell hit Brayden in the stomach and sent him flying against the wall. He fell into a heap of robes, and didn't move for a moment. He slowly got up, and began walking down a darkened corridor, breaking into a run once he was in shadow.

Skye stared down the hall, a scared look on her face. She turned back to Lynelle, and gave her the dirtiest look she could muster, which Lynelle returned.

Charlie Weasley walked out of the classroom, buttoning up his shirt, his hair tousled. He looked at the girls' staring contest, and said, "What did I miss?"

- - -

Cedric flipped another page in his book 'Fantastic beasts and where to find them!' before closing the book. He felt unsettled; his best friend had taken his brother off and they had been gone for 30 minutes now. He knew it was too late to be out perusing the corridors, so he sighed and opened his book again, knowing there was nothing he could do. He continued reading calmly, when he heard a scream outside of the common room. He shot up out of his chair and quickly walked over to the portrait hole, opening it up. He saw Skye standing outside, yelling at the portrait, whom had changed the password 5 minutes ago.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T COME INSIDE?" she wailed. "YOU WEREN'T EVEN SLEEPING, YOU JUST DON'T LIKE ME! Oh, Cedric, hullo," Skye grinned a faulty smile at him.

Cedric had emerged from the portrait hole, knowing Skye's temper was unusually short. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he said, "but apparently you aren't."

Skye's faulty smile faded, and her hair turned a dark shade of brown. Her eyes watered up, and she fell onto her knees, bawling.

"IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" she wailed. "IF I HADN'T GONE AND BEEN SO STUPID SHE WOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT!"

Cedric sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "What happened?" he asked consolingly.

Skye looked up at him with her watery eyes and said, "it was Lynelle. She cheated on Brayden."

Skye explained everything from Lynelle's warning, to seeing Lynelle with Charlie, to Brayden's reaction, and how she thought that everything, in turn, was her fault, because Lynelle was jealous of her time with Brayden.

"Skye, it's not your fault. Brayden's just like that, he connects to people. Who knows why Lynelle did an awful thing like that, but it's wrong. I don't hate you, and Brayden won't either. It was becoming a bit of a snore seeing them together all the time, anyway. Did you know she came to our house 3 times a week over summer break? It was like she was a fungus growing off the wall!"

Skye gave a sniffle of laughter, and wiped under her eyes.

"It'll be ok, Skye. Remember; everything happens for a reason."

"Everything happens for a reason," she repeated.

Cedric held her close and cradled her, as she rested her head on his shoulder, and slowly fell asleep.

- - -

Brayden ran into the Great Hall, clumsily bouncing off walls as he went. He was blind from the tears. What had he done wrong? Was he a bad boyfriend? A bad person? Why had she done that? It must have been him. Something he did wrong. Something...

He stopped to hit his head off a wall. He hit it continuously until he heard steps from down the corridor.

_'Shit! It's 10 o'clock now! I have to be in bed! But who cares, now, I've lost her...I've lost everything..._'

"You want me to help you with that?"

Brayden turned to the voice, and only saw a cloaked arm and a wand being pointed at him.

"_Crucio_."

Brayden fell to the floor, screaming and writhing as incredible pain coursed through his body. He felt like he could not take it anymore, like he should kill himself right then and there...

Then it stopped.

The body in the shadows began maniacally laughing. Travis stepped forward.

"Surprise, surprise, Mr. Perfect. Who's better now?"

"What…what are you talking about?" Brayden sputtered.

"You are the epitome of perfect. Perfect looks, perfect Quidditch playing, perfect friends, perfect marks, perfect girlfriend..."

"We're done now," Brayden said darkly.

"Ooh! Ickle Brady-kins and his perfect girlfriend are done? Was she just not good enough for you?"

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" Brayden snapped, standing up and pointing his wand at Travis. He was still curious why Travis would do this, he barely knew the kid, but he knew there were more important things to deal with right now.

"Funny," Travis said. "Funny seeing you so miserable. Like the pain? _Crucio_."

Brayden wailed as the curse hit him square in the chest, sending him on the floor, once again writhing uncontrollably. He felt pain, began to think of the dark aspects of his life, the things that brought him pain, he no longer wished to be alive, end this now, he couldn't take it...

The pain stopped, and Brayden saw darkness.

- - -

A/N: Whoo! Another chapter done! Things are about to get a lot darker, gonna throw in some not teen drama issues. Hope you enjoyed it, it's not very long, but should be interesting and at some points, cute! Read, review, and put me on your favorite stories list because you love me.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Good morning, afternoon, evening, whatever time it is as you read this. Another chapter is up, I'm proud of myself for getting things done as quickly as I have been. Thought I'd throw in a random fact, which I found out eating at an Italian restaurant last night: Firenze, whom everyone who's reading this should know, and if you don't he's a centaur/teacher in Harry Potter, is named after a town in Italy. Happy reading!

Drink up beautiful.  
I spiked your cup with angst and a heart attack,  
'cause I've got so much trapped  
It's all because of you.  
So I figured you might like some back.

And when I see her  
I'll tell her what's been on my mind  
all these sleepless nights.  
She'll recite her excuses  
Put my tail between these legs of mine  
like I do all the time.

I can't live my life  
knowing you'll be in his arms each time I blink my eyes.  
Know what goes on behind my back every night,  
afraid I'll never leave,  
afraid I'll never know what's good for me.

And now you say that,  
you say you love me.  
Well I may have your heart,  
he has your body.  
And now you swear that you're being honest,  
but you're not honest,  
and you never could be.

And when I see her  
I'll tell her what's been on my mind  
all these sleepless nights.  
She'll recite her excuses  
Put my tail between these legs of mine  
like I do all the time.

-Bayside. Song: Don't call me peanut

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter seven: Another painful moment without you.

Skye awoke the next morning, splayed out on a couch in the common room. She saw Cedric asleep on a chair beside her. She smiled, stood up, and headed upstairs to her dormitories.

Once she had dressed and decided her hair color (she, after much struggling, managed to have it shoulder-length and a copper color), she went back down into the common room. She woke up Cedric, and they headed down to breakfast together.

"Where's Brayden?" Cedric asked, when they had arrived at their table.

Skye shrugged. "He might be sleeping or something. He had a pretty rough night last night; we shouldn't bother him today."

Cedric nodded, and took some pancakes for himself as the morning post owls arrived. Skye usually found this as a quite monotonous occasion; she had yet to receive mail. She began serving herself with potatoes, when a school owl collided with her orange juice and dropped an envelope onto her plate.

Skye picked up the envelope, and examined it. There was long, slanted writing on the front which simply said 'Skye'. She opened the envelope, and a letter fell out.

_Good morning Skye,_

_I hope you are well. You will begin your private Potions lessons with Professor Snape tonight, 6 o' clock. If you have any inquiries with this, don't be afraid to call upon me._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

Cedric had read the letter over Skye's shoulder. "Private Potions lessons?"

"Yes," Skye scowled. "Professor Dumbledore said it would be best. I don't see how it could be; I believe it will just make things worse, but as he wishes..."

The two of them continued their day as usual. They began Levitation charms in Charms class, and Cedric managed to levitate a rock, best in class. They also had History of Magic (which Skye fell asleep in), Herbology and Astronomy.

At five thirty, after a delicious supper, Skye bade goodbye to Cedric, packed her things and headed to the dungeon. She arrived there at quarter to, figuring it was better to be early as opposed to late, sat down, and put her scales, cauldron and book on the desk. She opened the book and reclined in her chair, reading about a Shrinking Solution.

Professor Snape walked in thirty minutes later, looking agitated.

"You're late," Skye said calmly.

"I was brewing a potion for your inept friend."

Skye tried not to show curiosity, about who her apparent 'inept friend' was and what potion was being brewed for him or her, and simply turned another page in her textbook.

There was an awkward silence, before Skye asked, "who's the potion for?"

Snape cracked an evil smile. "Your savior, Brayden."

"What's the potion?" Skye tried to seem calm, but if Snape was making a potion for Brayden, it couldn't have been good news.

"Something to soothe his pain."

"Something for heartbreak?" Skye seemed relieved at the thought, knowing he could probably do with that.

"No, not that, silly girl," Snape said. "He was attacked last night. Cruciatus curse. He hit his head off the wall so hard if it hadn't been for me finding him, I wouldn't have been late for this session. Now, can we get on with it?"

Skye stared at him, a shocked look on her face. Snape? Help a Hufflepuff? It wasn't possible...

"Yesterday in class, we began antidotes. Read pages 104 to 114, and we will brew an antidote to headaches."

Skye began reading, and occasionally would daze off, staring out the window. She received a painful smack upside the head from a textbook every time she did this.

_Is Brayden ok?_ she thought. _Can I visit him? Why DID Snape save him, and why is he being so kind to me? Something isn't right here, no something isn't right..._

She began to drift off again, and Snape smacked her desk.

"Enough reading!" he decided, slamming the textbook closed on Skye's finger. He took his wand and flicked towards the board, where a list of ingredients and steps for making an antidote flashed on it. "You have twenty minutes to complete it. Go."

Snape sat back down at his desk, and Skye shuffled over to the ingredients cupboard, making the antidote quickly and silently. When her twenty minutes was up, and her potion had turned a light blue, she put it in a small vial and handed it to Professor Snape at the front of the classroom. He looked it over quickly.

"Unsatisfactory," he said. "Zero. Please clean up your things, I'll see you in two days."

And with that, Snape left, leaving Skye astonished, angry and confused.

- - -

Cedric sat in the hospital wing beside Brayden's sleeping form. He was fiddling with his thumbs, and battling sleep. Brayden would often shift in his sleep, causing Cedric to jump up, but he would then continue sleeping, and Cedric would sit back down.

_Who could've done something like this? _he thought, remembering being told Brayden had been attacked. _Who would hurt someone innocent like Brayden?_

He took his knuckles and dug them deep into his eyes, causing him to see spots. He saw Brayden lying there, fast asleep, the moon casting light on him, causing him to look more innocent then ever, despite his black eye and bandages wrapped around his head. Who would be crazy enough to hurt his brother, his good-natured brother, his fun brother, his loving brother?

He shot out of his train of thought when Skye entered, softly pulling a chair up beside Cedric.

"Oh...Cedric..." she said, breaking into tears.

Cedric tried to hold back tears of his own. Every time he had seen her, he had asked Madam Pomfrey how Brayden was going to be; every time, she would just shake her head and shuffle off.

Cedric sniffled. "It's not right," he said. "It's not right. We have to catch who did this...if Brayden is ok. He apparently hit his head quite hard..."

Skye nodded. "Let's just stay with him for now, and support him." Skye then rested her head on Cedric's shoulder, and his head rested on top of hers. Cedric then reached over, closed his eyes and kissed Skye gently. She looked up at him, and saw he was looking off into the distance. She smiled, and drifted off into sleep.

- - -

"Cedric? Skye?" Brayden rubbed his forehead, and looked at his watch. It read '8:30'.

"Ced? Skye?" Skye opened her eyes, and looked over at Brayden. She jumped up.

"You're ok!" she cried, hugging him.

Brayden smiled, and Cedric awoke, stretching his arms. "Of course I am," Brayden said. "A little hit in the head isn't going to bring me down!"

"That's g...g...great..." Cedric said, yawning. "What time is it?"

"Time for you two to get to class!" Brayden scorned, smiling. "Come back to visit me soon though, ok?"

Skye nodded, hugged Brayden again quickly, and headed out the door, Cedric at her heels.

Once they had left, Brayden's smile faded, and he rolled over onto his hands. There were flowers on his bedside table, courtesy of Professor Sprout. He rolled back over. Yes, he was happy to be ok; but so many other things were bothering him. His last night had been a rough one. He knew he should tell someone about Travis, but something wasn't right, something didn't fit into the puzzle...Brayden rolled over again.

And Lynelle. How could she do this? Brayden almost cried at the thought of her kissing that complete idiot Charlie Weasley (A/N: No, I'm not a Charlie hater, but I didn't think Davies was old enough to play the part, and Charlie was the first person on my mind). What had he done wrong? Must be something...

He rolled over again. And again. And again. Visions of the night rolling through his head like a movie. He was drifting off to sleep when he the door open.

"Brayden? Are you ok?"

It was Lynelle. Brayden closed his eyes, feinting sleep.

"Brayden? I've come to talk to you. I know you're faking it. Just hear me out."

"No," Brayden mumbled.

"What I did, it was..."

"I don't care," Brayden said. "I don't want to hear your excuses. Just go."

"...it was because you've been around Skye so much! It seems like you like her more than me!"

"Lynelle, until recently, I never liked anyone more than you. You went and broke my heart. How could you do that?"

"I didn't want to get hurt!" Lynelle cried. "I thought you were going to cheat on me, so I did it so I wouldn't get hurt."

"You selfish cow," Brayden said, sitting up. "You selfish, selfish, little BITCH! LEAVE! NOW!"

Lynelle slowly stood up.

"I'm done with you, Lynelle. I don't want to ever acknowledge your existence again. Just leave, please. I don't want any more pain."

Lynelle pulled a box of Chocolate Frogs from her pocket. Brayden's favorite. She then stood up, and walked out. "Get well soon," she muttered. "Maybe that bump on the head will bring you back to your senses."

Brayden picked up the box of chocolates and threw it at her. "GET OUT!"

Lynelle ran off, crying.

Brayden lied back down, and rolled over.

- - -

A/N: Whoo! More drama! Love it, or hate it? This was a bit of a slow chapter, but things will pick up soon, I promise you that! Read and review and most importantly, enjoy!


	8. Chapter 8

_Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day  
You fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way  
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town  
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way  
Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain  
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today_

-Pink Floyd. Song: Time

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter eight: I won't be home for Christmas.

Travis woke up, lying on his back on a hard surface. He thought he must have fallen, for his back hurt a lot. All he saw above him were wooden rafters, and felt something wet on his back. He had no idea where he was.

"Where am I?" he asked, apparently to himself.

"My office," Professor Dumbledore replied, making Travis jump. "You were serving detention."

"I...was?"

Travis jerked his head when he began to see visions. Visions of Brayden standing there, visions of himself hurting Brayden, and Brayden hitting his head off the wall. He felt a shiver go through him as, in the vision, he cackled...

"I hurt someone. I didn't mean to, I wasn't under my control, I..."

He heard footsteps and sat up, to see Dumbledore beside him.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

Travis twitched. "Someone came beside me...I felt good, happy, yet under their control. Then, I blacked out...all I remember is Brayden...I hurt Brayden. I HURT HIM! Is he ok? I didn't mean to...I...I..."

"Yes..." Dumbledore began. "The Imperius Curse. That would explain your petty attempt to attack me," Dumbledore chuckled. "Do you remember who put you under the Imperius Curse?"

Travis shook his head. "In fact, I don't remember much at all, including why my back hurts."

"You fell off of a ladder, you were cleaning my office rafters. I've always found them rather dusty, the house elves can never quite reach them...ah, yes. You should be off to the hospital wing," Dumbledore said, when Travis began rubbing his back. "Go on, you are dismissed. You should apologize to Brayden, as well, when you are in the hospital wing."

Travis nodded, stood up and headed out the door. He was so confused. His head hurt, his back hurt. What was the Imperius Curse? And was it true he had attacked Dumbledore, and why was he not in trouble?

He walked into the hospital wing, and explained his pains to Madam Pomfrey. She gave him a potion, and instructed him to rest in a bed that was beside a bed containing a sleeping form, with a wrap around his head.

"Brayden!" Travis said, after he had lied down. "Brayden?"

The sleeping form rolled over, opened his eyes, and gave a yell when he saw Travis.

"What in Merlin's name do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize? For using an Unforgivable Curse on me? What was it, an accident?"

"No! No, that's not it! It wasn't me who did that...it was someone who was controlling me. Professor Dumbledore says I was under the Imperio Curse or something..."

"The Imperius Curse..." Brayden nodded. "I understand. You're forgiven. Just don't do it again, ok?" Brayden laughed lightly, and Travis laughed nervously.

"Right," he said. "This potion's making me sleepy, I'm going to go to...sleep. Yeah."

Travis rolled over, and Brayden gave him a curious look before rolling over himself, back into swimming in his own thoughts.

- - -

Late November rolled into mid-December, bringing with it snow and the constant reminder that Christmas break was almost upon them. Skye never talked to Cedric about the kiss. She had odd feelings about it, knowing that though she liked Cedric, she wasn't attracted to him the way she was attracted to Brayden. Alas, she tried to pretend the kiss just never happened.

Skye's lessons with Snape became gradually worse and worse, with less and less words being exchanged. In fact, by mid-December, the lessons became Skye walking in, Snape ushering to the board which would have instructions on it, and his mark to her, which was most often a 'Zero'. Skye did not see the point of the lessons, he gave her a 'zero' for almost every assignment. She decided to keep her mouth shut and just do the work, she did not want to know the consequences if she decided to retaliate.

Brayden was let out of the hospital wing in early December, and the need for a break began to show on him. He got less and less sleep every night, and would often appear in the common room at night with dark bags under his eyes, his skin pale, and piles of homework before him. He barely spoke, and usually just sat down, sighed, and would mutter to himself as he wrote essay upon essay. "OWLs," was all Skye would hear him say.

Classes had their attention waning the week before break began. Skye would often abandon her work and barricade Cedric with questions about his house and his family, which would often result in a harsh retaliation from the teachers.

Finally, it was the Friday before they left. Skye decided on this day to abandon walking down the halls, and rather, she skipped. A whole two weeks off, alone with Brayden and Cedric and their family...how could one NOT be happy?

That night, they would travel to the Diggory's house using Floo powder. They were instructed to go to Professor McGonagall's office.

"Ced, I'm nervous," Skye said, as they waited in line in front of the fireplace.

"Why?"

"Well, for one, I've never traveled using Floo powder before, and I want to make a good impression on your parents."

"I'm sure you'll do fine traveling, and why are you worrying about making a good impression upon my parents? I'm sure they'll love you..."

Skye gave Cedric a curious look. "Did Professor Dumbledore not tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Well...he gave me permission to stay at your house this summer."

Cedric grinned broadly. "He...he did?"

Skye nodded, and Cedric gave her a large hug.

"That's great! That's really, really great!"

"Cedric, Skye, you two go ahead," Professor McGonagall interrupted.

Skye, never having used Floo powder and being clueless of the Diggory's address, was traveling beside Cedric.

"Hold on to my hand, and don't let go," Cedric said. Skye held on to his hand. He grabbed some of the green powder from a small rectangular box, and threw some into the fire. He stuck his head into the fire, and shouted something inaudible next to the roar of the fire. Skye felt herself being pulled by Cedric's force, and was pulled into the fire, almost choking on the ash. She felt like she was being squeezed into a tight tube, and she felt herself being pulled away from Cedric, but she never let go. She saw, below her, many fireplaces and tubes in all directions, but she didn't dare move. She finally saw her tube was leading to a fireplace, and Cedric tumbled out, Skye falling on top of him. She realized that she was covered in ash. She began to brush off the ash, when a motherly looking woman with a large mass of blonde hair atop her head scurried towards them.

"Oh dear, you're getting ash all over the floor, look at this..."

Brayden came out of the fireplace and knocked Skye over, sending more ash everywhere.

"Look at this mess!" the motherly woman said, flicking her wand and vanishing the dust. "How many times do I have to tell you, use the kitchen fireplace? Oh, hello, you must be Skye, I'm Maya, pleasure to meet you," Maya shook Skye's hand quickly. "Look at you three! Covered in dust..."

She began vanishing the dust, murmuring to herself as she did so. Skye gasped as she took in the room. It had a cathedral ceiling, and there was a 15 foot high Christmas tree sparkling with pixies, sprites, and a beautiful star on the top. There was a pile of presents at the bottom of the tree. The room seemed to be the main room, and it was lavishly decorated with tinsel, holly, and to Skye's surprise, there was mistletoe at each of the 6 doors surrounding the room. There were two on each length of the room and one each on the shorter sides, and there was a spiral staircase at the far end of the room that lead to an upstairs floor.

"It's not much, but it's home," Brayden said.

Skye recollected her years spent with her grandfather, in a small, dingy, dark room that consisted of a toilet, a couch, a sink, a television set and a small bed.

"Not much?" she said. "Not much?"

Skye began to walk around the room. In between doors there were often surreal paintings, with odd figures and shapes that never made sense to her unless she squinted her eyes. Cedric walked up behind her.

"They're made by my older sister," he said. "You'll get to meet her tonight, she's living with her boyfriend while Auror school right now. Would you like a tour?"

Skye nodded enthusiastically, and Cedric showed her around his beautiful home. There was the door outside, the door that led down into the basement, Cedric's bedroom, the living room, the back door, his parents' bedroom, the kitchen and dining room; upstairs was Brayden's room, Cedric's sister, Kamilah, or Kami's room, the study, and the guest bedroom which Skye was staying in. When they stepped into Skye's bedroom, Skye was surprised to see her small bag of luggage already on the bed. Her room was large, white, with a simple bed and some drawers.

"It's perfect!" she said.

"It is?" Cedric asked, confused.

"Your house is perfect!"

Cedric blushed. "Come on, let's go downstairs and have some supper."

- - -

After supper, which consisted of roast pork, beans, potatoes and pudding, Cedric's father, Amos, arrived after dinner, shaking Skye's hand violently but with kindness when he introduced himself. Behind him, an angel walked into the room. While, not quite an angel, but she looked like one. She had long blonde hair that was set in waves, a beautiful face and stunning blue eyes, alike to Brayden's, played up with some light makeup. She had large lips, and rosy cheeks. She was wearing a dark red cocktail dress, which contrasted heavily against her pale skin. She was wearing black pumps, though she didn't need them, she seemed tall enough already. She waved jovially at her family, and Maya stood up and gave her a hug. The girl went around the table, hugging Brayden and Cedric. She held her hand up for Skye.

"Hey!" she said. "I'm Kami, and you must be Skye. What a pleasure to meet you!"

Skye shook Kami's hand, almost in shock someone as pretty as her was making contact with her. Kami walked off and began chatting to her mother.

"She's so pretty!" Skye whispered to Cedric. Cedric just rolled his eyes.

"Everyone tells me that. I could never have my friends over before, because they would just try to spend all their goggling at her."

Skye laughed lightly. "I can see why."

After dinner, Skye, Cedric and Brayden remained in the study, chatting animatedly to each other. Kami came in shortly after, and began to talk to them about Auror school. Her voice was creamy and soft, and she never repeated herself; never said 'umm' or 'ah', never paused, never said 'whatever'. Everything rolled off her tongue as if it had been rehearsed, but didn't sound that way. She had a light, airy laugh. Skye had never met anyone as perfect as her.

"I'm heading to bed, ok Ced?" Skye said, at about 9 o'clock.

"Night," he said. "Christmas in 3 days!"

Skye smiled, knowing this would be a good Christmas vacation.

- - -

**A/N: **This is a sucky chapter, I'm sorry. But, it's Christmas break, and I have A LOT that's gonna happen soon. So, pretend this one doesn't exist, and wait for the next few chapters...I couldn't just magically make it Christmas, after all!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Merry (extremely belated) Christmas! This chapter is all about the love that is Christmas, so I wanted to get you all in the Christmas spirit. Thanks to all reviewers, you know who you are, I love you all.

_I don't want a lot for Christmas  
There's just one thing I need  
I don't care about presents  
Underneath the Christmas tree  
I just want you for my own  
More than you could ever know  
Make my wish come true  
All I want for Christmas  
Is you_

-Mariah Carey. Song: All I want for Christmas is you

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter nine: All I want for Christmas is you...

"Skye! Skye! Get up! Get up! IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

Skye opened her eyes groggily and looked over at her bedside clock.

"It's also 5 a.m. Go back to bed, Cedric."

"BUT IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

"I don't care if it's the rebirth of Merlin. Go back to bed."

"But everyone else is up!"

Cedric began jumping on Skye's bed.

"Stop it! You're acting like you're 7!"

"BECAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

Suddenly, an odd chain ofactions occurred. Skye sat up quickly, which caused Cedric to jump to the side. His leg fell off the side of the bed, and he fell forward. In order to catch himself, he threw his arms forward, and his hands landed on either side of Skye's shoulders, so their noses were almost touching.

Cedric's eyes scanned Skye's face, awaiting a reaction. She stared at him blankly; she felt torn between him and Brayden. She began to breathe deeper as his lips neared hers, and he closed his eyes.

"Cedric, is she? Oh, sorry...I'll...umm...come back later..." Brayden had opened the door, but closed it quickly when he saw Skye and Cedric's position. His words sounded disappointed at the sight.

When Brayden closed the door, Cedric stood up.

"Sorry about that, I...uh..."

"Right," Skye said. "I'll be downstairs in a second, I have to get dressed."

Cedric left, and Skye began changing from her pajamas into normal clothing. She felt confused at the situation, but then, felt ecstatic. Brayden had sounded upset at seeing her and Cedric so close. Upset! He cared! Skye pumped her arm at the thought, feeling triumphant. _All I want for Christmas is Brayden..._ Skye threw a large grin on her face and headed out her bedroom door. Her chosen outfit was a green t-shirt that read 'Don't get your tinsel in a tangle' and a pair of dark wash jeans. Her deep purple hair was up in a ponytail. She walked down the stairs to see the Diggory family sitting around the large Christmas tree, everyone having presents in their hands.

"We didn't want to start opening them until you got down," Brayden said, as she took a seat between him and Kami.

Skye looked under the tree and, to her surprise, she could see a few presents with her name on them! She picked up one that was from Cedric, and began tearing it open. It was a fancy new camera, coming with extra film and an empty photo album.

"Hey, Cedric!" she called. He turned to her, a stupid expression on his face, and Skye took a picture of him. "Very nice."

Cedric squealed loudly when he opened his present from her; a Cleansweep broom!

"It's used," Skye said. "I got it for cheap."

Cedric stood up, walked over to Skye and wrapped his arms around her, completely ecstatic. "This is why I love Christmas!"

Skye also got a self-applying makeup kit from Kami, which contained self-reapplying mascara, self-blending coverup and self-matching eyeshadow. "Because every girl needs to feel beautiful!" she said, making Skye grin at her. Skye received a large bag of goodies from Honeyduke's and Zonko's Joke Shop from Brayden, and a box of chocolate frogs with the note "I'm sorry" from Travis. When all the presents were opened, Amos stood up.

"You still have something from myself and Maya, Skye," he said.

"You didn't have to!" Skye said, standing up and following Amos out the back door.

She had never been in the Diggory's back yard yet. It was quite large, with a pond near the back door and a barn with a paddock attachment in the far corner, the paddock taking up most of the yard. There was also a forest that surrounded the area.

"In here," Amos said, pointing to the barn. Skye looked back at Cedric, who was watching from the back door, a curious look on his face.

Skye entered the barn, and the smell of horses washed over her.

"Over here..." Amos said, ushering her over to a far corner. There, standing in a large end stall, was a big dark brown horse, with a white stripe on his face. He had to be part draft horse, because his head and neck were so massive. Amos pointed to him.

"He's yours."

Skye gasped, staring between the horse and Amos.

"No, no this is too much..."

"He used to be Kami's," he explained. "But now that she moved out, she thought it would be best for you to have him. Plus, you're part of our family now. We're letting you stay the Summer."

"I...I don't know what to say! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" Skye hugged Amos, who patted her on the back.

"Welcome to the family!" he said. "Now, back to the horse. His name is Cerian. Do you want to take him for a ride?"

Skye nodded so violently it hurt her head. Skye stepped into Cerian's stall, who nuzzled her hair affectionately. Amos handed her a brush and she began to brush his silky coat.

"Have you ridden before?" Amos asked, as Skye went through all the everyday tasks of grooming a horse with ease.

"I used to have one of my own before," Skye said, as she began picking Cerian's hooves. "But my dad had to sell it when...when my mom died."

Amos took this as a cue to stop asking questions, and went off to get a saddle and bridle for Skye. She began slowly stroking Cerian's face, and he bent his head down, letting her pet his ears.

"Your life's so easy, isn't it?" she asked the horse. "All you have to do is eat, sleep, and go outside to get exercise sometimes. Your only problem is getting your manhood cut off." Skye giggled at the thought. "I guess that is a big problem..."

Amos returned with the tack and Skye threw a large, western-style saddle on Cerian and put on his blue bridle. She led him out of his stall, and to her surprise, saw Cedric and Brayden both beside horses. Cedric was holding on to a smaller, fatter chestnut horse and Brayden was holding on to a paint horse, who was brown and white.

"We all have one," Brayden said in reply to her astonished face. "Family tradition."

The three of them left the stable to go on a ride through the woods, where Brayden would often throw sly smiles at Skye, causing her to blush. When the three decided to return home for a late lunch, Brayden sent Cedric off, telling him he'll "catch up with him", leaving Brayden and Skye alone.

"What happened this morning between you and Cedric?" Brayden asked defensively.

"It was an accident. Really. I just...don't think I like Cedric in that way, but at the same time I do, but at the same time I like someone else..." Skye shut her mouth quickly when she realized she had said this.

"Who?"

"It's not important," Skye said, looking at the ground.

"Of course it is!"

"It's not..."

"C'mon!" Brayden said. "It's Christmas! And plus, it can't be that bad."

"It's you," she whispered.

"Skye," Brayden said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I kinda like you too."

- - -

**A/N:** Short but very sweet! THE PLOT THICKENS! Reviews are loved.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Another day, another update. Kids, grip onto your seats, this is gonna be a good chapter! You may need someone here beside you because you are about to die from shock. I'M MORE EXCITED THAN YOU ARE!

_My hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me.  
So won't you kill me, so I die happy.  
My heart is yours to fill or burst,  
to break or bury, or wear as jewelry,  
which ever you prefer._

Hands down this is the best day I can ever remember,  
I'll always remember the sound of the stereo,  
the dim of the soft lights,  
the scent of your hair that you twirled in your fingers  
and the time on the clock when we realized it's so late  
and this walk that we shared together.  
The streets were wet  
and the gate was locked so I jumped it,  
and I let you in.  
And you stood at your door with your hands on my waist  
and you kissed me like you meant it.

-Dashboard Confessional. Song: Hands Down

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter ten: New Year, new opportunities.

Christmas passed, Boxing Day flew by and New Year's Eve was presented without a further word passed between Brayden and Skye; rather, just many exchanges of sly glances and smiles, most often followed by blushes. There was also the occasional 'click' heard as Skye would sneak pictures of Brayden to put in her photo album.

This New Year's Eve was a cold one, snow falling onto the ground lightly, reflecting the joyous holiday in it's brightness being brought out by the blazing sun. The Diggory's were holding an annual New Year's Eve party, and a few close friends of Amos, Maya and Kami were set to arrive, including Kami's lucky boyfriend.

At 8 o'clock, when dinner was served, there were 15 people happily chatting at the Diggory's kitchen table, thoroughly enjoying Maya's dinner of turkey, honey ham, an assortment of vegetables, bread, and potatoes. She also had some odd smelling vegetarian food for Kami and her boyfriend that looked like someone had thrown up on the plate. Skye took her fork and began to poke it with her fork, causing Maya to shoot her a dirty look.

The good thing about New Year's Eve was it was a chance for Skye and Cedric to be introduced to the world of heavy alcoholic beverages. They were given Firewhisky after dinner, which literally burned as it passed down their throats, making them appreciate their Butterbeer, which was much easier to digest.

It was nearly midnight, and Cedric had drunken far too much Butterbeer, seeing that he was attempting to hit on his sister's boyfriend. Brayden and Skye laughed as they carried him to his bedroom, as he rambled on about Kami's boyfriend looking feminine.

"Goodnight, Cedric," Skye said, closing the door to his bedroom.

"Note to self: never get my brother drinking again," Brayden said, laughing lightly.

"I'm ready to go to bed myself," Skye said.

"I'll go with you."

The two of them walked upstairs, and were in front of Skye's bedroom, and stood in the doorway, facing each other. There was an awkward silence when the group in the main room began counting down before New Year's.

"5!"

Brayden looked up.

"4!"

"Mistletoe," he said softly, as he began to lean nearer to Skye.

"3!"

Brayden could count every freckle on Skye's face...

"2!"

Skye took one last look into Brayden's ocean blue eyes before she closed her own. She just wanted to swim in those eyes...

"1!"

Their noses were touching...

And their lips met, Skye's soft lips to Brayden's tender ones. He slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer, as the kiss deepened. Skye wrapped her arms around Brayden's neck, in complete ecstacy at the moment presented to her.

There was a loud bang downstairs and a scream, and Brayden and Skye pulled apart.

"Happy New Year!" a chorus of creepy voices chanted, cackling as Brayden and Skye heard more screams and loud bangs. Brayden immediately ran towards the staircase, Skye at his heels. He looked downstairs momentarily, then looked back at Skye.

"Death Eaters," he said, a look of utter fear on his face. "About 10 of them. Come on, in here, we may be safer."

Brayden grabbed Skye by the wrist and brought her into her bedroom.

"What are Death Eaters?" Skye asked.

"Shh! Stay quiet!" Brayden instructed. "Death Eaters are followers of The Dark Lord. Some of them are as feared as him, and some of them have caused as many deaths as him. I don't know what in Merlin's name they're doing here, The Dark Lord was defeated years ago..."

Skye looked up at Brayden with a worried look on her face.

"Who do you think they're after?"

"That's the problem," he said, pausing. "It might be you."

Skye wrapped her arms around Brayden, and held him close.

"I don't want to die," she mumbled. "I don't want to die...this can't be happening..."

Brayden stroked Skye's hair. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

"Brayden, if anything ever happens, I want you to know that I've always cared about you, ever since we met."

Brayden smiled. "I wish I could say the same, but at the time, my love was for that slut."

Skye looked up at Brayden. "We have each other now, right?"

"You'll always have me, no matter what."

Brayden kissed Skye tenderly, and for a moment, she felt all the worries, all the pain in the world, wash away. She never thought of Cedric, she forgot about Snape. She forgot about everything around her and focused her attention to Brayden, who she believed she was meant to be with.

Skye heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and pulled away from Brayden, looking up at him with desperation. He held her close, and they stayed quiet. They only heard the Death Eaters pass by them, and the sounds of spells being cast downstairs. Brayden breathed out when he heard his father send an incantation in a Death Eater's way.

Skye took a deep breath when she heard the footsteps near the room they were in.

"In here, boys!" a male Death Eater said, before the door was opened.

Three Death Eaters walked in, all masked. There was one in the middle who had blonde hair gleaming from under his hood, and he was flanked by two large Death Eaters.

"Look," the blonde Death Eater crooned. "Lovebirds."

The two large Death Eaters guffawed stupidly at the joke.

"What a couple," he continued. "Mr. Perfect and his little runaway girlfriend. Think you can hide from us all these years, Skye? Think your lying father's ways will keep you alive for very long?"

Brayden stepped in front of Skye, blocking her from the Death Eaters.

"You will not hurt her!" he said, holding up his wand.

The blonde let out a cackling laugh.

"I'm not just here for her. I'm here for you, too."

He pointed his wand at Brayden's heart. Brayden's eyes widened, and Skye pulled out her wand, running every incantation she could do through her head.

"What do you want with me?"

"Revenge," the blonde said. "For what your father did."

"What did he do?" Brayden snapped.

"Now, I'm sure your puny little mind will have trouble processing this," the two cronies laughed at this, "but your father used to be a Death Eater. 'But he seems so kind!' you're probably thinking. Well guess what? Reality hits, and more and more people are on the Dark Side, now. Your father was too scared to do what he believed in, so he joined us."

Brayden stared at the blonde, disbelief on his face.

"No...he couldn't..." he sputtered.

"Seemed brave? He's not. He's so weak that he betrayed The Dark Lord. The Dark Lord sent him to find as much information about Lily, James and their son Harry Potter, the family happening to be close friends with your father, and the prophecy. Your father couldn't do it. He betrayed The Dark Lord, and lied to him. Said the prophecy wasn't about Harry Potter," one of the cronies spat at the mention of his name, "but rather Neville Longbottom, another boy the same age as Harry. He then went into hiding. Your father's lies were part of what brought The Dark Lord down, and caused the madness from torture of Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom. Now, it is time for revenge, so he can learn what happens when you mess with the Dark Arts."

Brayden looked around desperately for a way to escape, hoping for someone to come and save him. Skye took his hand in her own, giving him some hope, and strength.

"_Avada..._" the blonde Death Eater began.

"_PROTEGO!_" Brayden shouted, causing a silver form to erupt from his wand, and create a wall between Skye and himself and the Death Eaters.

"..._Kedavra!_"

A green curse erupted from the blonde Death Eater's wand, breaking through Brayden's shield charm, hitting him square in the chest. Brayden's eyes went wide, and he had an odd green glow around him, before being knocked back, sending Skye to the side, and he hit the back wall, crumpling on the ground in a heap of robes.

Brayden never breathed again.

- - -

**A/N:** wipes tears Do I need an authors note? I'd prefer crying in my corner now, thanks. Yep...off to my corner...'night everyone...need a tissue?


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Hey loyal readers! Sorry about the lack of updates for the past couple days; I just started on another story, and I'm gonna post one of my old stories back up soon. So...thanks for reading and stuff...uhh...I'm sorry about killing off Brayden, I couldn't help it, he was too good.

_Is there life before death?_

-Graffito

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter eleven: The end of the beginning.

Skye ran over to the slumped body of Brayden, and held his head in her hands, sweeping a piece of wavy hair out of his face. He finally looked truly peaceful... Skye let out a wail of anguish.

"Get up, Brayden," she said, patting his cheek. "Get up now!"

"He's not getting up," the blonde Death Eater said. "He's dead."

"NO HE'S NOT!" Skye shook Brayden.

"He's dead."

"NO!"

There was a soft _pat, pat_ of footsteps up the stairs.

"Oh, here comes the Law Enforcement Squad. Bye, Skye, I'll see you soon."

The blonde waved at her sadistically, and with a loud _crack!_ him and his sidekicks disappeared.

Skye looked down at Brayden. His eyes were closed, and there was an odd, eerie glow about him as Skye held him close, crying, as 5 men ran into the room.

"Anyone hurt?" a tall man with a throaty voice asked.

Skye looked up at him, her eyes watery and desperation on her face. She took one look down at Brayden before dropping him, standing up and running out of the room, shoving past the men. She ran down the stairs, past Cedric's bedroom, which still had the door closed, and down towards the basement. She saw many still bodies lying everywhere as she passed the main room, and she saw Kami hovering above a pale but alive Amos, muttering something and moving her wand along his body. Amos smiled up at Kami. Skye opened the basement door and charged down the stairs, falling down to her knees on the concrete floor and letting out a cry of anguish.

"HE'S GONE!" she wailed, no longer caring if anyone heard her. "HE'S GONE!"

She began to pound the floor with her fists, causing blood to spurt out of her knuckles. She couldn't feel the pain, though, the only pain was within.

Then, she saw it. She saw a pair of Brayden's pants, ones that needed to be washed, hanging up on a clothesline. Sticking out of one of the pockets was a letter.

Skye stood up and approached the pants, pulling the letter out of the pocket. Her name was in the front pocket, in Brayden's unique writing. Skye's eyes darted up and down the letter, and knew this wasn't the place to read it. She ran up the stairs, past the main room, where Kami had quietly asked, "Skye?" as Skye walked briskly past, and out the back door. She walked across the yard, ignoring the snow that was swiftly falling, and into the barn, where she walked into Cerian's stall and sat down in one of the corners. Cerian nuzzled her hair as Skye opened the letter apprehensively, being careful not to rip it, but rather slowly take it off it's hinges. There was a long scroll of parchment enclosed, and the ink still seemed fairly fresh, with a red tint. Brayden's unique writing was seen all down the parchment, and Skye began reading it, tears falling on the page as she went on.

_To my dearest Skye, _

_We must first grasp a few concepts. Let us begin with the concept that love has no boundaries, which is a concept unbelievable to the modern adolescent. For me, my feelings for you have never had boundaries. Despite our ages, despite our differences, I think we are meant to be together. _

_Do you remember the time you came back from the hospital, and we laughed merrily in the night? To me, at that moment, you looked perfect, the moonlight reflecting in your eyes, and the way you smiled. I did not need Butterbeer; you intoxicated me. _

_You will never realize the shock I felt when I learned about yourself and Professor Snape. What he did to you was wrong; I knew vengeance would be sweet. I believe we can conquer him together. No longer will we have the need to conquer things ourselves, for we will have each other. No longer will we have to face the battles that our predecessors have alone, for we will have each other. As I followed you into the Forbidden Forest, and saw you weep as you were being attacked, I knew that I could never leave you to simply fight life's problems alone; we must face them together now, and if anything ever happens to either of us, remember that we will always have each other in our hearts._

_Our hearts. _

_Our hearts which have been torn and ripped so many times from our past, present, and future. Let me mend your heart, for you have already mended mine with naught but your presence. Naught but your soft musical voice, which would send me into another world. I knew as we first met that you were different from the other girls, beautiful on the inside and out. Perhaps it was your unrepeatable entrance, perhaps it was your confidence, perhaps it was that twinkle in your eye. Perhaps it was the way that you accepted my brother, though so many before you could never. You were utterly non-judgmental, which is a character very few possess, a very admirable one at that. Perhaps it was everything about you that made me fall for you._

_Even to today, I treasure every feature of you. Every moment we are apart seems like a moment wasted. So let us spend our limited time together, because you never know what tragedies tomorrow may bring, or what happiness it may bring, which would increased tenfold when spent together. Life is all about moments; whether sad, joyous, mad, angry or incredible, and I want to spend the rest of my moments with you. With you, all my moments will become joyous moments, perfect moments, great moments. Our moments._

_During the summer of my 2nd year, I became friends with a Muggle, who enjoyed American music. We had a song that we coined our own, and I believe it suits you and myself better. It went like so:_

_Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you,_

_By now, you should've somehow realized what you've gotta do,_

_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do, about you now..._

_All the roads we have to walk are winding, _

_And all the lights that lead us there are blinding, _

_There are so many things that I'd like to say to you but I don't know how..._

_Because maybe,_

_You're gonna be the one that saves me,_

_And after all,_

_You're my wonderwall..._

_There are so many things that I want to say to you, but to sum it up in three words, they would be I love you. I love you, Skye, and I want to mend your heart the way you've mended mine, treasure all my moments with you, laugh with you, cry with you. You are the one that saved me, and I love you for it. _

_Please, don't ever change. You are perfect the way you are. _

_Love,_

_Brayden_

Skye carefully folded up the letter, placing it back in the envelope and the envelope into

her pocket. She then buried her head in her hands and cried until the sun set on a lonely New Year's Eve.

- - -

**A/N: **Isn't Brayden cute? Just for copyright reasons, the song is Wonderwall by Oasis, and I got the lyrics (and all other lyrics) from  R & R y'all. Hope this chapter was worth the wait. Sorry it's short.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** ...I love Green Day. That's all!

_Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road  
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go  
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why  
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time_

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.  
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind  
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time  
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial  
For what it's worth it was worth all the while  


_It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.  
I hope you had the time of your life._

-Green day. Song: Good Riddance (Time of your life)

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter twelve: I hope you had the time of your life...

2 years, 7 months later

"Come on, Skye, just get in!"

"But it's gonna be so cold!"

"Wuss!"

Skye looked into the body of water before her, which was shimmering in the moonlight. The only thing disturbing the water's silence was Cedric. Time had been good to Cedric; over the course of 2 ½ years, not only had his bad acne faded, revealing his handsome face, but he had filled into his once lanky body, growing muscles from his hour-a-day Quidditch practices. His smile had straightened with age, and overall he was developing into a really handsome young man. Meanwhile, Skye had done the opposite; she had grown taller and become much more awkward and lanky. After Brayden's death, her friendly and slightly chubby face had hollowed out, giving her a constant appearance of one who hadn't eaten enough. Though, after that miserable New Years, she began to suffer from night terrors (A/N: Not nightmares; night terrors are in a half-awake state where you usually scream and flail and such) alas had a lack of sleep. She would never forget that night, nor the following day when she had walked back into the house and the sallow looks on everyone's faces at the loss of a great family member and friend.

The funeral had been held at the school because that was where he had spent most of his time. At that point, Skye was beyond tears, at the funeral she merely stared blankly at the coffin, the letter clutched in her hand. When Cedric had pointed to the letter with a questioning look, Skye just shook her head, and Cedric had knew at that point not to ask. After the funeral, Skye began to metaphorically dig herself into a hole; she barely ate or slept, and classes passed by in a blur. She spoke to no one save Cedric, and she could never show him the letter. Both her and Cedric miraculously passed all their exams, and had completed their first year, to their joy. Summer had swept in, and for Skye that meant another chance to spend time with Cerian. Cerian had been a sort of therapy for her; after a relaxing Summer at the Diggory's, Skye had almost returned to her normal self. Though she had constant mood swings due to a diet change to a vegetarian and her night terrors, she still had her good days, as well. Second year passed in a flurry of quills and a candlelight vigil on New Years morning, and they were presented with third year. Third year brought whispers of the great Harry Potter coming into their reach, and Cedric was finally put onto the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, where he is their star seeker. Now we return to the present, where we find Skye and Cedric on another one of their night adventures on an unusually hot night of an unusually hot Summer.

Skye took in a deep breath and plunged into the water, feeling the cold envelop her. She brought her head to the surface, taking a deep breath in, and began to shiver.

"I told you it was cold, Ced!"

Cedric swam up to her, wrapping his arms around her tenderly.

"Well, I'll keep you warm."

Cedric kissed Skye tenderly, and when they seperated, she smiled at him. She would never forget the day Cedric had told her that he cared for her. It was on Valentine's Day of second year, and the common room was mostly empty save a few first years because everyone else was out enjoying Hogsmeade with their Valentines. Cedric and Skye were basking in the warm of the fire, when he closed his textbook and turned to her.

"Skye," he began. "It's Valentine's Day."

Skye smiled at him. "Yeah, Ced, it is."

"And I need some advice on this girl I like."

"Alright," Skye said, nodding.

"You see, there's this beautiful girl, she's a second year. She's the kindest, most caring person in the world, and a great friend. She always sticks up for her friends, and always gives such great advice. She is, in fact, so perfect, that I don't think I could stand not being with her. I can't think of this amazing way to impress her, and show her I really care. The problem is, she's sitting next to me right now, and all I can think of is stinking flowers and some chocolates," and with a flick of his wand, Cedric produced a box of chocolates and a bouquet of roses. They kissed, and have been dating ever since.

Cedric pulled Skye close, kissing her strongly. He took his hands and slid them around her waist, realizing how small it was.

"Skye, what was the last thing you ate?"

"A salad."

"When?"

Skye averted his concerned gaze, staring at the clear water. "Yesterday," she mumbled.

"Yesterday?" Cedric lifted Skye's chin, looking into her eyes with concern and devastation. "Come on, let's go. I'm going to make you a snack."

- - -

When they arrived back at the house, Cedric and Skye snuck in through the back door and tip-toed into the kitchen. Cedric pulled an apple out and began slicing it.

"Really, Cedric, I'm not hungry."

"Oh, come on, I'm just making you something small," Cedric whispered as he pulled peanut butter from the cupboard and began putting globs of it on the apples.

"You're just going to end up eating it all."

"Skye, will you stop. I'm doing this because I care about you and your health, which seems to not be very good at the moment. You know you're starving, you know you want this, this is your favorite. I don't care if I have to feed it to you, I want you to get healthy again."

Skye looked up at Cedric with awe. He cared about her so much. She looked down at her toes, frowning at the thought that he had inherited his kindness from his brother.

Cedric put the plate under Skye's nose. "Just have a little."

Skye took an apple slice and stared at it before shoving it in her mouth, chewing on it viciously.

"I told you so. Eat up; I have a surprise for you tomorrow."

- - -

"Shh...we're almost there."

Skye was being lead, blindfolded, by Cedric somewhere, and all she could feel was the grass beneath her bare feet. It was early evening, and Amos was working his night shift and Maya had been called into St. Mungo's for a 'special case', and the other healers had said she wouldn't be home for a few hours.

"Ready?"

"Ready now, as I have been for the past twenty minutes of us walking!"

Cedric pulled the blindfold off of Skye, and she let out a gasp. They were in a forest clearing, which had been mowed down and was surrounded by candles. Cedric flicked his wand and a soft song began to play. Cedric walked Skye into the middle of the clearing, took her hand in his own, and wrapped his other hand around her waist, as they began to slowly dance.

_Give me your lips, and with one kiss, we begin..._

_You afraid of being alone? _

_Because I am..._

_I'm lost without you..._

"Skye, I'm so lost, every moment apart from you. I want us to be together, forever. Promise me you'll never leave me."

"I promise, Cedric. I never could. Without you, my life would be nothing."

"I know exactly how you feel."

Skye smiled up at Cedric. "Thanks for doing this."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

The two of them kissed as they spun slowly, the moon rising and setting a mood for them. The next song began, a faster song. Skye stopped.

"Ced, I don't know how to dance!"

Cedric put one hand on each of Skye's hips, and began to move them side to side. "Just sway to the music," he said, moving closer to her. "Don't worry about how you look, just let the music take you."

Cedric's body pressed against Skye's, and their hips moved as one. "See, you've got it!" Cedric said, wrapping his arm around her back to pull her closer. Their hips grinded together to the beat, and both of them began to sweat as song after song passed, and the heat of the night began to overtake them.

A slower song came on, and Skye took a breath of relief for a bit of relaxation.

"This is so awesome, but tiring!" Skye said. "And this is a good song...what is it?"

And then it hit her.

The first line.

It hit her like a dagger to the heart.

_Today, is gonna be the day that it's all coming back to you..._

"Cedric?" Skye said softly, her face turning pale.

_Right now, you should've somehow realized what you've gotta do..._

Skye stopped, looking up at Cedric. "What's wrong?" he asked.

_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now..._

"Don't you like this song?" Skye put her finger up to Cedric's lips, and he didn't say a word.

_Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me,_

_And after all, you're my wonderwall..._

Skye looked up at Cedric, her face deathly pale. Her lip quivered, and she ran off into the forest, her hair turning a lighter shade of brown and her cheeks hollowing as she ran, her white skirt billowing behind her. Cedric stared at her disappearing form with sadness and confusion on his face, pausing before running after her.

- - -

**A/N: **Well, yes, I did do a large time skip. I was getting sick of the previous chapters, they were so sad, I wanted some Skye and Cedric fluff right away! I hope you still love me, even with the time skip. I just wanted to go in a bit of a new direction. R & R! Oh, song credits. The first song I put on there was 'I'm lost without you' by blink-182, and the second was 'Wonderwall' by Oasis.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** I'm sorry about the time change, give it time and things will explain themselves. I just need time to get everything sorted out, I'm not even 100 sure about what's gonna happen for the next few chapters, so just give me lee-way!

_Last night it came as a picture  
With a good reason, a warning sign  
This place is void of all passion  
If you can imagine it's easy if you try  
Believe me I failed this effort  
I wrote a reminder this wasn't a vision  
This time where are you Houston  
Is somebody out there will somebody listen?_

_My head is made up of memories  
Most of them useless delusions  
This room is bored of rehearsal  
And sick of the boundaries  
I miss you so much._

-blink-182. Song: Asthenia.

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter thirteen: The Boundaries.

Skye only ran for a short period of time before stopping, sitting on a nearby log and taking out Brayden's letter. She read it over again, crying. She had never told Cedric about how she felt about Brayden; she never had the heart to. Cedric had been far too good to her, she could never tell him she cared about his own brother. She began softly singing the song as she stood up and walked towards the house. She knew, at this point, she would have to talk to Cedric, but not now; she's too emotional now, she might do something rash.

She stared at her feet as they carried her towards her home, her home that she felt as if she was destroying. Not only did she feel that she had partaken in the death of their eldest son, but she also felt that the reason Kami didn't visit as often was because she missed her childhood best friend, Brayden, and Skye felt as if she was taking away their last son by spending all the time with him. She hadn't, of course, told Maya and Amos that they were dating; they were afraid that Cedric's parents wouldn't let them spend as much time together as they did. The two of them were getting older, and had been officially dating for 1 ½ years, now, and Skye knew that sex was looming upon her like a cloud. She still had not told Cedric why she had avoided his advances upon her, even now. Not only had she thought that they were far too young still, but she knew it meant telling him her fear of it...

She shivered slightly at the thought. She hadn't told that to anyone. Not any of the many other friends she had made in the past few years, nor Cedric, nor Brayden, no one. It was her secret.

For now.

Skye began walking faster, until she saw the barn that meant she was in Cedric's backyard. She walked past it, straight through the back door, and upstairs into her room. She closed the door behind her, reached under her bed, and pulled out a photo album that was covered in grease and fingerprints from constant use. Skye smiled slightly when she saw the two pictures spellotaped to the front cover; one, of her and Cedric kissing, and the other of her between Brayden and Cedric at Christmas. She opened the album, the album that always made her feel good, and inspired her, encouraged her to do what she needed to do.

First picture was the picture of Cedric she took at Christmas in first year, with a goofy look on his face. Then there was one of Brayden, smiling at her as he made Christmas pudding. She flipped past a few pictures of her and Cedric throughout the years, until she found the back page, where her favorite picture was stored. It was a picture of her, laughing, her mouth open to reveal a row of white teeth. She was wearing dangling silver earrings that glinted lightly in the camera's flash. Brayden and her were dancing at the moment, so he was standing behind her, looking down at her, a smile on his face. They, at that moment, looked perfect together. She smiled and ran her finger along Brayden's face in the picture with fondness. She placed the letter gently in the slot beside the picture, not daring the put a wrinkle in it. She jumped when there was a knock at the door.

"Skye?" It was Cedric. "Can we talk?"

Skye sighed. "Yeah, come on in."

Cedric walked in and sat beside Skye, sliding his fingers through hers and looking down at the picture of her and Brayden. "When was this taken?"

"New Years."

Cedric nodded. "It's nice."

There was a pause as the two of them looked down at the picture.

"I've got to show you something," Skye said. "Please don't be mad."

Skye pulled Brayden's letter out of the slot and placed it in Cedric's hand.

"I found it after...after it happened. I liked him since September and..."

Skye sighed, looking down at the ground as Cedric opened the letter, his eyes scanning it quickly, an unreadable look on his face. Once he had finished, he put the letter down.

"Listen," he said. "I understand that you liked him, and I understand everything. That was then. Though I cared for you then, I knew you didn't feel the same for me. I could see your attraction to him. I just...there was this one time that I told him that I liked you, and then it turns out that he deceived me, almost using my secret against me. But, I can't go back and change that. That was then, this is now. We're together now. I wish that I had known about the song earlier, so I wouldn't have hurt you. But it's passed. I know now, and we don't have to worry about it. Remember, Skye, everything happens for a reason, and we're together for a reason, and we weren't together then for a reason, too. I love you, and don't forget that."

Skye rested her head on Cedric's shoulder. "I love you too."

- - -

"Up, Skye, get up!"

Skye rolled over and opened her eyes wearily, giving Cedric a dirty look.

"What."

"Remember, it's take your kids to work day at the Ministry, and we're leaving in 10 minutes! Did you set your alarm?"

"No. I forgot."

"Stop being miserable!" Cedric grabbed Skye's wrists and lifted her out of the bed. "You've never been to the Ministry before, it's so cool! You'll love it!"

"I'm sure. Now leave me to get changed."

"You sure you don't want help with that?" Cedric raised one eyebrow as he wrapped his arms around Skye's waist. Skye pushed him off.

"No, I think I can do it myself," Skye said, taking Cedric aback. "Oh, come on Cedric, you know how I feel about this."

"Yeah...I know. I'm sorry. Be quick."

Cedric walked out of the room abruptly, his head hanging low in rejection.

"Stop looking like a scorned puppy!" Skye called to him as he closed her bedroom door.

Skye quickly changed into a pair of striped short pants and a button-up shirt. She quickly brushed her teeth and threw on some mascara in the bathroom before heading out the door with a granola bar in her hand.

Amos, Cedric and Skye took a Ministry car to the guest's entrance of the Ministry, where Amos ushered Cedric and Skye into a phone booth. Skye gave Cedric a funny look as he quickly walked into the booth, and walked in behind him. It was crammed and slightly hot in the booth as Amos dialed numbers on the phone. Skye jumped as a cool female voice spoke that seemed to ring through the booth.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business."

"Amos Diggory, Cedric Diggory and Skye Cunningham. I work here, and Cedric and Skye are my guests."

"Thank you," the voice said. "Will the visitors please attach the badges to the front of their robes."

Without warning, two badges slipped out of the phone and both Skye and Cedric picked one up. Both read 'Visitor' in bold scarlet letters.

"Visitor to the..."

"Yes, yes, we know. Let's get on with it," Amos said.

The phone booth began to rattle before descending into the ground, putting them in total darkness. Skye grabbed Cedric's hand quickly before they saw light rising from the ground as the booth came to a stop.

"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day," the voice said, as the door sprang open.

The three stepped into a large hallway lined on either side with fireplaces, which had witches and wizards spilling out of them. The roof was blue with golden lettering that would move quickly and efficiently, apparently telling different messages. Skye jumped back as a wizard Apparated in front of her ("whoops! Sorry! Didn't see you there!" he had said) as they began to walk down the long hallway. Amos shoved Cedric and Skye in front of him as they walked closer to a lazy-looking guard.

"Wands," he said, holding out his hand.

Cedric quickly gave his wand to the man, and excited look on his face. Skye pulled her wand out of her pocket and hesitated before the man gave her an incoherent look and she handed hers to him. He took it and looked it over, before flicking it, sending sparks flying out of the end, and gave it back to Skye. He did the same with Cedric's wand.

"Alright, go on."

Skye was required to jog behind Amos's large stride as they headed towards a lift. They entered the crammed lift, being surrounded by men carrying boxes that were making noises and a few flying pieces of paper, that would often ram into Skye's head as the lift ascended after the grates closed.

"Level seven, Department of Magical Games and Sports, incorporating the British and Irish Quidditch league Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club and Ludicrous Patents Office."

They passed by a few other levels, until they reached Level Four, the department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Amos ushered them out of the lift, and turned onto the first hallway on the right, where his office was the first on the left. There was a plaque at the door, which read 'Department Head'. Amos walked in, and sat at the desk; Cedric and Skye sat down on adjacent chairs.

"Well," he began. "Today I'm doing a bit on dragons. There's been a man drifting around the Hog's Head selling dragon eggs...I need you two to head downstairs..."

"...to the record room, to look up previous incidents?"

"Of course!" Amos said, ruffling Cedric's hair. "That's my boy, you know the way, get going!"

Cedric stood, and Skye followed suit. They walked out of the room, down the hallway, and to the lift. Thy entered and, to their surprise, the lift was empty.

"Work hours just started, that's why it was so busy," Cedric explained. "I'm glad he's sent us out so early...I have a surprise for you."

Cedric dug into his pockets and pulled out a small green bottle, containing a clear liquid.

"It's called Endiedic Laide; it's a potion meant to put you in a state of complete euphoria. Just take a swig; what's the worst it can do?"

Skye grabbed the bottle from Cedric with greed and took a quick swallow of the potion. It tasted a bit like raspberries as it went down sweetly. Cedric finished off the bottle. Suddenly, Skye began laughing.

"What?" Cedric said.

"I don't know!" Skye said, causing Cedric to laugh with her. Skye felt as if nothing could go wrong anymore, like everything was right. Everything was funny; from the way Cedric moved to her hair.

"Look!" she said, changing her hair from dull brown to bright purple, causing Cedric to laugh.

"Ooh, here it goes again!" her hair changed from purple to blue, then blue to pink, then pink to golden. Skye then began changing the shape of her nose. At this point, Cedric was on the ground clutching his sides as he rolled, laughing hysterically.

"Level One, Department of Mysteries."

"Oh, mysteries! C'mon, Ced, let's go here!"

Skye grabbed Cedric by the arm and they ran together down the hallway, past lit torches and a few doors. They reached a door at the end of the hallway, which Skye opened, and they were brought into a circular room.

"I like this place!" Cedric said, smiling.

"It's so cool!" Skye walked forward, and touched one of the doors. Immediately, there was a soft _'click'_ as the walls began to spin around them, changing the doors constantly.

"Look at them go! Woo!"

Cedric suddenly grabbed Skye and kissed her, causing her to giggle in his mouth a little. Her giggle vibrated in his mouth, which seemed to turn Cedric on even more as he kissed her deeply. He pushed Skye into a nearby door, which opened when she leaned on it, causing them to fall into the doorway, Cedric lying on top of Skye. Skye looked up into his face, smiling brightly before laughing hopelessly. Cedric began laughing too, and he stood up, grabbing Skye by the arm and lifting her up.

They were in a strange hallway that had walls that were lined with separate corridors and shelves that contained glass balls. Skye walked up to a glass ball, and breathed on the face of it, causing it to fog up. Written below the ball were the words 'Micheal Burns'.

"Hey, look, some guy named Micheal Burns has a glass ball dedicated to him!"

Skye placed her hand on the glass ball and tried to pick it up, but it wouldn't budge. Skye gave the ball and odd look before continuing down the hallway, skipping jovially the way.

Cedric's eyes were scanning the glass balls (A/N: tee-hee!) as he slowly scanned the rows, looking down the corridors, knowing it was hopeless to try and read every name there was. He had seen a few of the glass balls with familiar names; Darwin James, a co-worker of his father, Mora Picket, a sixth year Hufflepuff and Issay Carter, one of the Slytherins who had pushed Skye off of her boat on the first day of school.

Then Cedric saw it.

On the fifth corridor to the left.

Skye's name, below a glass ball that seemed to be glowing.

Cedric quickly walked down the corridor, stopping at the ball and placing his hands on it.

"Skye!" he called, hearing giggles become louder as she approached him.

"What's up?" she asked, laughing at herself.

"Come here."

Skye gave Cedric a funny look as he stared at her, a cold hard look on his face.

"Does the potion wear off that fast?" she whined.

"No," he said. "Come here."

Skye remained at the door. "Tell me what it is first."

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"Then come here."

Skye gave him a sly smile, thinking she knew what he wanted. She strutted over to him, swaying her hips as she walked. She stood in front of him, a broad smile on her face. "What can I do for you?"

"Sit."

Skye bent down, making sure to stick out her butt, and putting her face right in Cedric's.

"What?"

Cedric pointed to the glass ball.

"That's what."

Skye reached out to touch it, a confused look on her face. Unlike the last ball, this time she picked it up with ease, examining it and rolling it from hand to hand.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know."

She put her nose right up to it, her breath fogging it up. There seemed to be white clouds forming within it.

"It's so cool."

Cedric stood up.

"Come on, we should show my dad. You never know what it is."

Skye stood up quickly, the euphoric drink kicking in again.

"I have a glass ball named after me..." she chimed, skipping down the corridor.

"Easy Skye, don't..."

Cedric sentence was cut off by the sound of a smash as the glass ball hit the ground, shattering into pieces. Skye took a step back in horror as a white figure emitted from the broken glass.

'_This is her fate; she whom is the lone daughter of Severus Snape, born in the waning of Summer during times of great peril, will be the one who changes the fate of our kind. It shall be she who chooses whether the ones to prevail will be light or darkness; this is her fate.'_

Skye turned to look at Cedric, his mouth moving but no words emitting from his lips. Skye's eyes rolled back into her head as she collapsed onto the ground, seeing blackness.

**A/N: **I'm sorry about lack of updates, but this is a really long chapter, and hopefully it's good. Another twist, another turn...what happens next? Tune in next time!


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** FLUFF! I 3333 fluff. Prepare for fluff. Maybe not now, but definitely later. I was just on Robert Pattinson's site, and I'm in love right now so...fluff! (FYI: with someone other than Robert Pattinson)

_Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired._

-Robert Frost (1874-1963)

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter fourteen: So in lust with you.

Skye opened her eyes quickly too see she was lying on the floor looking up into the face of Cedric.

"Are you ok?" he breathed.

"Yeah," Skye said, sitting up and rubbing the back of her head. "I'm not sure what happened..."

"You must just be scared or something," Cedric said, sitting beside Skye and wrapping his arms around her.

Skye sighed. "That...that must be it."

"Don't forget I'll always be here."

Skye suddenly broke out into tears, resting her head on Cedric's chest.

"I can't do this!" she cried. "I can't save the world, I can't choose who will end this once and for all. This isn't fair; I don't understand. I thought You-Know-Who was dead, is there another battle we have to face? Are there greater things to come? And why am I the end-all?"

"I don't know, Skye, I really don't. All I know is whatever battles you have to face, I'll be right behind you, supporting you all the way."

"Really?"

"Really. No matter what happens, I'll make sure you never get hurt."

"Never?"

"Never ever."

- - -

2 months later.

Cedric held on to Skye's hand tightly as they sat in the carriages that would take them back to Hogwarts for their fourth year. Skye stared straight ahead at the Thestrals that drew the carriages, smiling at the fact that she could see them when few can; one thing she had learned in Care of Magical Creatures last year. Cedric stared out the window, thinking about premature Quidditch tactics as they passed by the pitch. Skye frowned slightly as she thought of the task before her; she knew she was going to have to talk to Professor Dumbledore about what had happened in July sooner or later, and she preferred sooner before classes began to really get rolling. She had resumed a position in a regular Potions class, because of Professor Snape's 'busy schedule' and had taken Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures as her other two courses; she wanted to take up Amos's position when she got older.

The arrived at the school and, like the true gentleman he was, Cedric held the door open for Skye. She had chosen to wear an attractive purple dress under her robes to celebrate the arrival of the great Harry Potter. She had chosen to end her vegetarian diet, after the prophecy, so she could have enough strength when the time arrived. She had began to gain weight, and Cedric was extremely proud of her. Things had just seemed to go uphill after the prophecy had been heard, other than the fact they had that hanging over their heads like a dark cloud.

Skye stepped out of the carriage and looked up at Cedric, smiling lightly at him. He had grown an inch over the past two months, so he was now as tall as Skye. The two walked into the Great Hall, hand in hand. A few younger students stared at the couple in envy and awe, and Skye smiled, knowing they all wanted to be in her position.

They sat down beside Cedric's two best friends; Milo Redekop, a dark-haired big-mouthed fourth-year who always stood up for what he believed in and Shaun Luchetta, a mysterious boy with light brown hair and dark eyes who only opened up to Cedric and Milo. Skye had a few other friends, as well; Casey Donovan, Valencia Brown, Anne Joyce, and her best friend Chad Beckon, a smart relentless gay boy with the heart of an angel. Skye spent most of her time with either Cedric or Chad, but her heart went to Cedric. He, in the beginning, was extremely jealous of Chad when Skye and him met in second year, but when Chad tried to get friendly with Cedric...

"Ced! How's it going? You haven't written to me all Summer, I was waiting for news from you!" Milo clapped Cedric on the back, causing Cedric to choke slightly and Shaun to give a quick burst of laughter. Skye shot Milo a dirty look; she never liked him much.

"Hey Skye, looking hot."

"Fuck off, Milo," Skye spat. "How are you, Shaun?"

"Great," he said. "Couldn't be better."

Skye gave him a funny look as she tasted sarcasm in his voice, but before she could continue, Chad had taken a seat beside her and had given her a large hug followed by a bright smile.

"Hunny!" he said. "When did you start looking so fabulous, why haven't you written, what have you been doing, where have you been, how have you been, and who have you been doing?"

Skye giggled. "God, Chad, I've had such a boring summer...except for one thing, which I've been trying to write to you about but someone," Skye shoved her thumb at Cedric, "hasn't been letting me use their owl."

"Well, what's the news?"

"I can't tell you here, it's too big. I'll let you know very soon, though. You'll have to promise not to tell anyone."

"I promise!"

"How's your summer been?"

Before Chad could reply, Cedric elbowed Skye in the rib cage; Professor Dumbledore had stood to quiet everyone as the first years were to step in.

The Entrance Hall doors opened, and a file of first years stepped in, most of them looking wet and disgruntled.

"Peeves," Cedric whispered to Skye, causing her to smile at him.

The Sorting Hat was taken and placed on the school, and the hat loudly recited one of his infamous songs, which Skye wasn't paying attention to as Cedric ran his hand up and down her thigh. She smiled lopsidedly at him, then shook her head, staring down at her empty plate, frowning. The time was coming soon; she'd have to tell Cedric eventually. She sighed, and tilted her head up when the song had finished, and the sorting had commenced.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

There was a brief pause as the Hat was placed on Hannah's head, before the hat shouted "Hufflepuff!".

Skye stood up, clapping loudly as Hannah shuffled over to the table, looking nervous. Chad shifted over so she could sit next to him, and he shook her hand before they quietly talked.

"Bones, Susan."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Skye clapped loudly again, ushering Susan so she could sit by her; Susan sat beside Hannah and the two chatted with Chad.

First-year after nervous first-year got sorted, and about two others were placed in Hufflepuff. Skye's attention waned as the first-years began to get repetitive.

"Potter, Harry!"

"Cedric, did you hear what I heard?" Skye whispered.

"I think I did. Could it be him?"

"No way. That's impossible."

The boy was average height, very plain-looking with scraggly black hair, glasses, and the notable lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. Skye elbowed Cedric, giving him a questionable look. It couldn't be possible...this simple boy defeated the greatest Dark Arts wizard of their time? Impossible. Cedric seemed to know what she was thinking, and nodded at her in agreement.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat shouted, causing the Gryffindor table to erupt in loud cheers and applause of joy to have THE Harry Potter in their house. Skye saw Fred and George, her only friends out of her house, stand up and clap Harry on the back merrily as he sat down.

"Well, that was a bit predictable," Chad said to Skye. "The Boy Who Lived ends up in the infamous Gryffindor. God, why doesn't anything interesting EVER happen to Hufflepuffs? We're people too, y'know!"

Skye laughed as the remainder of the first-years were sorted, and Professor Dumbledore stood to address the school.

"Welcome!" he began, opening his arms as if he were embracing the entire school. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

Skye saw Milo immaturely cover his mouth to prevent from laughing and shot him a dirty look. She had always idolized Dumbledore, no matter how odd he was at times. She opened her mouth in joy as food appeared in front of her, and she began to pick some out for her plate. Cedric was taking large clumps of potatoes and shoving them in his mouth as he plopped other food in a mound on his plate.

"Cedric, easy, we're not animals!" Skye said.

"Ermferr!" Cedric mumbled, sending potatoes spilling out of his mouth. Skye laughed and wiped up the excess with her napkin.

Dinner was quickly eaten up, shortly followed by a variety of puddings. Dumbledore addressed the school once again, Skye choosing to tease Cedric by running her hand up his leg and kissing his neck when no one was looking. She respected Dumbledore, but she had heard the speech far too many times; she preferred to torture Cedric, knowing he can't reach her yet.

Once he had finished, they stood up and began to head back to their dorm room. Skye was walking quickly, anxious to sit by the fire with her cat and a good book, when she walked smack into the back of a first-year.

"I'm so sorry!" she said, bending down to look at the face of her pupil. She gasped when Harry Potter turned around, a still nervous look on his face.

"It's ok!" he said quickly, jogging away to catch up with the rest of the group.

"Shows you how I get along with fame," Skye said to Cedric.

- - -

**A/N:** This chapter's the start of better things; I had to introduce friends, I had to introduce Harry... things are just going to go uphill! R & R!


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: **Warning: fluff. I'm sorry. I heart fluff. Fluffy, like those weird Persian cats when they've just been blow-dried. Go sweet analogies!

_We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year._

-Pink Floyd. Song: Wish You Were Here

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter fifteen: Hide and Seek.

Cedric sat, leaning against the tree by the lake, flipping through the Hufflepuff team captain's notes for him. He had survived day one of his fourth year; Ancient Runes, Transfiguration, Charms and History of Magic. He was having a bit of a rough day, and he couldn't wait for some rest and relaxation. He looked out onto the lake as the sun glittered off of it. He admired the way the surface never broke, and it looked completely calm. He wished things were that simple.

He thought of the way Skye constantly pushed him off. He felt as if he was doing something wrong. Did she not like him anymore? He shivered at the thought. He thought he was probably putting too much pressure on her.

He saw Skye flouncing towards him, her hair long, brown and in a braid that lined her back. He smiled, knowing that whatever her reason to avoid contact was, it didn't matter; she was perfect the way she was.

"Hey," she said, as she sat beside him. "What're you reading?"

"Oh, notes," he replied.

"That's cool."

There was an awkward pause as they both stared out on the lake as the sun slowly moved down into the lake, appearing as if it was melting into the lake.

"Perfect," Skye muttered. Cedric grasped her hand and smiled at her.

"Just like you."

Skye looked down at the ground, blushing.

"We need to talk," she said, her voice unusually cool. "There's something I need to tell you that I've been hiding from you."

"What is it?" Cedric asked, placing his hand on her cheek and turning her head towards him.

"It...has to do with your advances," Skye said, stuttering slightly. "Why I've been avoiding them."

"Am I doing something wrong?"

"Of course not, you could never do anything wrong. It's me. It's my past. Whenever we get close, it comes back to haunt me."

"Skye, what is it?" Cedric said, concern on his face.

"My uncle," Skye began, fighting off tears. "When I was young he...he raped me. Many times. Whenever he babysat me, he hurt me, Cedric, he hurt me!"

Skye broke out into tears and put her head on Cedric's chest.

"Did you ever tell anyone?"

"I couldn't! He threatened me, he said he'd hurt me if I did!"

Cedric held Skye's head, rocking her back and forth. "It's over now. We don't have to worry about that now. It's over, it's ok, and we definitely don't have to do that. I'm ready when you are."

"Cedric, just getting it off my shoulders...it helps. Thank you for listening."

"It's what I'm here for."

"I'll be ready someday. And you'll be here, right?"

"Right. Come on, let's go inside. You have to go see Professor Dumbledore, right?"

Skye nodded, and Cedric stood up, pulling her up as well.

- - -

Skye stood beside the gargoyle that lead to Professor Dumbledore's office, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Are you sure I can't go in? I have an appointment set."

The gargoyle gave a bark of laughter, "of course you can't. I'm not that easy."

Skye pulled out her wand and practiced her summoning charms.

"_Accio book_," she said, sending a book flying to her. "_Accio mouse._"

"Good to see you're practicing."

Professor Dumbledore had come out of his office, and had watched Skye perform her charms.

"Though, I must say you lack the correct flick of wrist."

Skye looked up at him, and a smile flickering in the corner of her mouth.

"Come now, let us proceed inside my quarters."

Skye followed Dumbledore past the stone gargoyle, up the spiral staircase and through the wooden doors. Dumbledore sat down at his desk, and ushered Skye to sit before him.

"What can I help you with on this fine Tuesday evening?"

"It's something I heard this Summer. When I was in the Ministry of Magic with Amos and Cedric, I stumbled upon the Department of Mysteries."

Dumbledore shook his head, smiling. "I'm sure you just stumbled upon it. Pardon me, continue."

"Well, when we were there, we went into the Hall of Prophecies, and we found a prophecy relating to myself."

"Did you really?" Dumbledore said, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes," Skye continued. "And it scared the wits out of me. It...it went like so: _'This is her fate; she whom is the lone daughter of Severus Snape, born in the waning of Summer during times of great peril, will be the one who changes the fate of our kind. It shall be she who chooses whether the ones to prevail will be light or darkness; this is her fate.'_"

Dumbledore linked his fingers together and stared at them. "Curious, very curious."

"What do I do, Professor? Does it relate to You-Know-Who, or something greater than that?"

Dumbledore looked up at Skye through his half-moon spectacles.

"I believe this is something you'll have to find out on your own."

- - -

3 years later.

"...something you'll have to find out on your own."

Skye looked up from the blank piece of parchment, little interest on her face. She closed her eyes, feeling sleep take over. Her head drooped, and she didn't hear Professor Snape approach her. He slammed the book that was open on her desk closed, making Skye jump.

"Do you find my class a bore, Miss Cunningham?"

"Well, though I find the Draught of Living Death and yourself a bore, your class, if taught by someone more qualified than yourself would be much less a bore."

Professor Snape's face turned red as the class began to stifle laughs around him.

"If you wish to be so pompous, make me a Draught of Living Death. Failure to do so will result in plenty of time in detention with myself, the bore."

Professor Snape stomped off to the front of the class, where he resumed his speech.

"As I was trying to say, before I was so rudely interrupted, now that we are at NEWT level, you will have to find out most of these things on your own. I am no longer here to push you along; rather, an assessor..."

"What're you so tired from?" Chad whispered to Skye, as she yawned again.

"It was Cedric..."

"Doing the horizontal Monster Mash?" Chad asked, giggling.

"No, no. We were doing research on the Triwizard Tournament. He really wants to enter, but I suggested we do a little research first. See previous tasks, injuries, deaths...and so on. Things happen, you know."

"I'm so excited about our little Cedric becoming a big man! I hope he gets in, can you imagine him all hot and sweaty as he fights off Flobberworms or whatever?"

Skye stifled a laugh as she pulled out her cauldron and weights. She then went over to the ingredients cupboard where she pulled out a few things before returning to her desk and beginning work.

"I'm so proud of him," Skye whispered. "Look at him! Captain of the Quidditch team, Head Boy, top marks in all his classes, he got all his OWLs, he's become so attractive he's like a magnet, and he's going to compete in the Triwizard Tournament!"

"Oh, and look at yourself, Mrs. Most-wanted-girl-in-Hufflepuff, Exceeds Expectations on all your OWLs, best Potions student seen in years..."

"Ironic, isn't it, that Potions is my best class, with him teaching," Skye said, nodding towards Snape.

"He's just a bundle of joy, isn't he," Chad said sarcastically.

"This," Skye pointed to her potion, "isn't a problem. I could do this in fifth year! I'll have it done better than he could ever do it."

Skye wasn't kidding. When she finished the drought and brought it to the front of the class, Professor Snape examined it, mumbling to himself knowing that there was nothing that he could deduct marks for. He told Skye that she was off the hook and sent her out, grumbling angrily to himself for passing his Potions talents to his daughter.

"Cedric!" Skye called, when she saw Cedric standing in the hallway, his eyes searching for her. He had, though thought impossible, become even more handsome since their fourth year. He had grown even taller, though barely, and had become even more built. His smile had straightened out and his lips plumped, his eyes becoming more daring.

"Skye!" he cried, running to her and picking her up. They kissed passionately before Cedric put Skye back on the ground and they walked down the hall hand-in-hand.

"How was Potions?"

"Atrocious! And Ancient Runes?"

"Couldn't have been more boring. I have something to show you after a bite of supper, though!"

Skye smiled up at him, and they entered the Great Hall, all eyes on them. Through the grapevine, Skye had heard that they were the talk of the town; the perfect couple, they had been called by many. This wasn't a word of a lie; to all eyes, they were.

After they had a fabulous dinner, courtesy of the house elves, Cedric took Skye by the hand and led her upstairs. Skye had lost track of the flights of stairs up and down they took until she found they were in an unfamiliar corridor.

"Wait here," Cedric said, letting go of Skye's hand. He began to pace past and empty space in the wall. After he passed it three times, a door materialized where the blank wall once stood.

"Follow me," Cedric said, walking through the door. Skye followed him, and found herself in a large room, dim with candlelight. It smelled of sweet roses, and there were rose petals that lead from the doorway to a large bed.

"You, you said you were ready. So I thought..."

Cedric's sentence was cut off as Skye ran and jumped on to him, throwing him onto the bed. She kissed him passionately, her tongue darting in and out of his mouth. Cedric let out a soft moan as Skye unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his chiseled chest and stomach. She began to kiss down, reaching farther and farther...

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Cedric asked, his breathing becoming shorter as she began to hastily unbutton his trousers.

"Never been more sure of anything."

And with that sentence, the pair took each other to places of ecstacy rarely though possible.

- - -

**A/N:** I'm sorry about the time skip, last one, I promise. Things are really gonna get GOOD. So, be patient. Thanks to all my readers & reviewers, I love you all.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **Ok, instead of a real note...I have a few questions. Question A: Do they have Thanksgiving in the UK? And B: if, according to Hermione, you cannot Apparate within the castle walls, how come the house elves can Apparate?

_Fingers trace your every outline  
Paint a picture with my hands  
Back and forth we sway like branches in a storm  
Change the weather still together when it ends_

That may be all I need  
In darkness she is all I see  
Come and rest your bones with me  
Driving slow on Sunday morning  
And I never want to leave

-Maroon 5. Song: Sunday Morning.

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter sixteen: The way we groove.

Skye's eyes flickered open and she found herself lying on a bed unusually comfortable compared to hers. She rolled over to see Cedric sleeping peacefully. She looked at her watch, which read '7:30'. She swung her legs over the bed and stepped off, picking up her pants from a far corner in the room, wondering how in Merlin's name they had found themselves atop a lampshade.

She then began to have blurred memories from the night before. She remembered having passionate sex with Cedric once...no, twice...pardon, three times. She wondered how on earth they fit three times into such a short period of time; though, I suppose, when neither of them have had sex for seventeen years you must make it up within a few hours.

"Where are you going?" Cedric asked groggily after he woke up.

"Arithmancy," Skye replied miserably. "After I get some breakfast. Want anything?"

"No, it's alright, I have to get up anyway."

Cedric sat up and stretched his arms, showing off his naked chest. Skye licked her lips, making Cedric laugh.

"Want another go?"

"No...no. Class is more important!"

"Liar."

"Oh, shush. We'll come back tonight."

Skye walked over to Cedric and, after a quick kiss, set off out of the room and to the Great Hall, a broad smile on her face.

Once she arrived at the Great Hall she took a seat at her table beside Chad, still grinning.

"What's with you?" he asked skeptically.

"The...what's the word...horizontal Monster Mash."

"NO WAY!" Chad said, far too loudly.

"Last night. Three times. We boogied down."

Chad laughed loudly. "Finally, you get some sense knocked into you...was he as hot as we presumed?"

"Oh, Chad, you have no idea!"

"Or do I?"

The two of them laughed joyously, knowing things couldn't get much better.

- - -

"It's today!"

"What's today?"

"The other students; Beauxbatons and Durmstrang! They arrive today! Today I can enter in the tournament!"

"Fabulous!" Skye gave Cedric a quick kiss. She knew Cedric was so hyped up about this tournament, but she had a comforting feeling he might not be the Hogwarts champion. She had a feeling it would be a Gryffindor, like it usually was. She still supported Cedric, knowing that there was an inkling of a chance he would be the chosen one.

Skye finished her hot cereal off and, with a quick goodbye kiss to Cedric, headed off for Transfiguration, where she took a seat between Casey and Valencia, two of her three female friends.

"I heard Cedric's entering the tournament," Casey said. Now, we must first establish that Casey isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, and Valencia is the rebel of sorts.

"Yeah, he is," Skye replied.

"You scared?"

"Of course she ain't," Valencia said, resting her kicker boots on the desk. "Ced's tough. He can do it. Right?"

"Well, I'm not even sure he'll be the one chosen...plus, you guys, you don't know some of the tasks the previous competitors have had to face. It's tough."

"Girls, settle down!" Professor McGonagall scolded. "Today, we will be starting a unit on human transfiguration. We will begin with basic transfiguration; human to monkey. Now, when it comes to this type of transfiguration, it is the rearranging of molecules to..."

Skye rolled her eyes and began to write a note to Cedric on a blank piece of parchment.

_Dear Cedric..._

She crumpled that piece up. Not a good start.

_My love, Cedric..._

No way, too sappy. Cedric might think she was dumping him or something.

_My sexy Cedric._

_Meet me tonight, 8 o' clock, in the room. Prepare for a wonderful surprise._

_-Skye _

She folded up the note and placed it in her bag.

After Transfiguration, Skye met up with Cedric for Herbology, where they studied _Mimbulous Mimbletonia_ plants. After the class, before they parted ways, Skye slipped the note into Cedric's hand and, with a wink, headed off for an atrocious double Arithmancy.

- - -

Cedric and Skye stood together in the Entrance Hall, awaiting the arrival of the visitors eagerly.

"I don't see anything," Cedric said into Skye's ear, loud over the murmurs of surrounding students.

"Maybe they're afraid the future Hogwarts champion is gonna kick their butts so bad they decided not to come."

Cedric smiled down at Skye and kissed her quickly. Skye pulled out of the kiss, and pointed at the sky.

"There!" she said loudly, causing everyone to look in the general direction in which she was pointing. (A/N: if you read the book, this works quite well because it says a sixth-year points at this point, so I'm close)

There, above the trees in the Forbidden Forest, a large object was hurtling towards the Hogwarts grounds. Upon closer observation, one would see that it was, in fact, an over-sized carriage being drawn by even more over-sized white horses. Skye took in a deep breath as the magnificent animals touched their dinner-plate sized hooves onto the ground gently, causing the carriage to jostle upon impact. Before the students could become too distracted by the inhabitants of the carriage, there was another wonder.

The glassy surface of the lake began to bubble and churn as, slowly, a long black pole emitted from the top, with a man atop of it. He gestured to the water and, without warning, the bow of a ship sprang from the surface of the water, and shortly after the entire ship surfaced, bobbing on the turbulent water. The ship glided peacefully to the lakeside, where it jerked when it hit land.

By now, the students from the carriage were passing by Hogwarts students to get into the castle. They all seemed to be beautiful and graceful as they walked. In the end of the line, behind a massive woman the size of Hagrid, was the most beautiful girl Skye had ever seen. She had long, silvery hair flowing behind her, and she walked as if on air. She turned to Cedric, winking barely audibly before continuing past the group. Cedric stared at her, his jaw dropped.

"Cedric!" Skye said, punching him playfully. "I'm over here!"

"I'm so sorry, baby! She's just so..."

Cedric stared, with many other of the male students, at her backside as it swished with her movement.

"I get it," Skye said, laughing. "And I forgive you. She has to be a Veela; no question."

Cedric nodded, turning back to Skye and smiling at her. By now, the Durmstrang students, all representing wet, shaggy dogs in their layers and layers of fur, passed.

"Skye, look it's...it's Krum! It's Viktor Krum!"

There was a murmur through the crowd as the infamous Quidditch player passed, walking with his head high.

"Look at him. So arrogant."

"Don't say that, Skye, you don't even know him."

"Just watch him!"

Krum did walk with arrogance, Cedric noticed, as a fleet of girls trailed him, pulling on his coat irritatingly. Professor Sprout ushered everyone inside, and they sat at their respective tables. Once they had sat, and the other schools had sat down, Dumbledore stood to address the awaiting students.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and, most importantly, fair guests! I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable.

"The Tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast and, until then, eat, drink and make yourselves at home!"

The dishes before them filled with fantastic foods, even some that seemed to be native to France and Bulgaria. Cedric immediately put globs of an odd-smelling stew onto his plate, shoving a spoonful in his mouth.

"Bouillabaisse!" Cedric said to Skye's shocked face, after gulping some down. "Delicious!"

Skye chose to eat her familiar foods, like her favorite liver and beans. She ate two platefuls; she had skipped lunch.

Once plates were cleaned, and most students seemed content, Professor Dumbledore stood to address the students once again.

"The moment has come!" he declared. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring the casket in. These words are just to clarify the procedure which we will be following this year. First, let me introduce, Mr Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation," there was scattered applause, including Cedric applauding politely. "And Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

The chubby man stood and waved at the students jovially. Skye found him much more interesting looking than Mr Crouch and clapped for him.

Skye listened to the rest of Dumbledore's speech closely, realizing more and more the reality of this competition, and the dangers of it. Cedric could get truly hurt if he were put into this. She had faith in him, and his skills, but what if it wasn't enough...

"...now I think it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all!"

"Come on, Skye, I'm going to put my name in right now! Well, once everyone leaves, that is..."

Skye followed Cedric to the Goblet, where he stared at it for a moment, wonder flickering in his eyes.

"Here," Skye said, passing a spare piece of parchment and a quill to him.

"Thanks," Cedric said absently, taking the things from her. He bent down, and, placing the parchment on his knee, wrote his name and 'Hogwarts' on the paper. He then stood up and, standing on his toes to reach the Goblet atop it's pedestal, dropped the parchment in, causing it to flame.

"There! No, where's that surprise you promised me?"

"You go to the Common Room and get something comfortable on. I'll meet you in 15 minutes."

Skye ran up to the Room of Requirement, where she passed by the door three times, thinking, _I want somewhere to be alone with Cedric._

The door materialized, and she found herself in a room alike to the room where they stayed the night last night, but with a few more feminine touches, including a white silk nightgown sitting atop the bed. She quickly took of her robes and other school clothes and put the nightgown on, sitting on the bed in a sexual pose. A few minutes later, she heard the door open as Cedric walked in.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied.

Cedric attempted to be calm as he walked over to the bed, never removing his gaze from Skye. When he sat down, Skye put one hand on his cheek and the other on his lower back, pulled him close to her and kissed him sensually.

Cedric stopped the kiss and looked deep into her eyes with his eyes that were full of desire, and she fulfilled his every wish.

- - -

**A/N:** Uneventful. I'm so sorry! Next chapter is when things start to get the bomb, yo. I seriously promise.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **...hi, readers & reviewers. I don't really have an authors note today. So...err. Listen to Metric because they kick.

_And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you_

-Lifehouse. Song: You and Me.

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter seventeen: You and Me.

Cedric had his eyes closed tightly as he clutched Skye's hand equally as tight. The Goblet of Fire's flame had just turned red for the first time, and a charred piece of parchment shot out of it and into Dumbledore's waiting hand.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he said, with excitement in his voice, "is Viktor Krum!"

There was a loud chorus of applause from the awaiting audience. The room went completely silent as soon as the flame once again turned red and spit out another piece of parchment. Tension was vivid within the waiting audience.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," Dumbledore said, "is Fleur Delacour!"

There was another chorus of applause integrated with a few cat-calls as the beautiful girl proceeded to the front of the Hall to shake Dumbledore's hand before exiting in the same direction as Krum.

"This is it," Skye whispered to Cedric. "This is your moment."

The flame turned red again, and Cedric opened one eye to stare at Dumbledore. Dumbledore raised one eyebrow and smiled. There was a pause as the entire room stared at Dumbledore with anxiety, awaiting the truth on who their future Hogwarts champion was.

"The champion for Hogwarts," he said, excitement in his voice, "is Cedric Diggory!"

Cedric shot out of his chair, knocking it aside, and pumped his fist into the air.

"Yes!" he cried, giving Skye a kiss as she had stood up too. Everyone around Cedric was clapping loudly for their local hero. Cedric shook hands with masses of Hufflepuffs before walking to the front of the room. Dumbledore held his hand out for Cedric to shake, though Cedric decided to, instead, embrace Dumbledore in a hug before heading out to the side chambers where Krum and Fleur had went.

"He did it!" Chad whispered to Skye when they had sat down.

"I'm so proud of him," Skye said, a smile on her face.

"Nervous?" Anne whispered from her other side.

"Of course I am! People have died! But I believe Cedric can do it; in my eyes, he's the greatest wizard of the future."

Skye stared fondly at the door where Cedric had just left, apprehension on her face. Yes, she was scared. Who knew what he'd have to face? She knew the only thing she could do, now, was support Cedric, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

The room was bustling with excitement as everyone discussed their future prodigies. Skye stared at the door where Cedric had just exited, missing him more then ever. As she daydreamed, she didn't really notice that the Goblet had just spit out another name until the entire room went silent and she snapped back into reality.

Dumbledore stared at the piece of parchment that the Goblet has just spit out, confusion on his face. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Open, closed. Open, closed.

"Harry Potter!"

Skye averted her eyes from Dumbledore to Harry, her mouth open. How had he passed the age line, and why was that jerk taking away from her boyfriends glory? What had Cedric ever done to him? Skye shot Chad a questioning look, who just shrugged.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore repeated, more confidence in his voice.

Harry stood and whispers broke out through the entire Hall, though Skye remained silent. She was livid; Cedric had his hopes set on this for two months, now, and this petty 'Boy who Lived' dare took away Cedric's glory after all his hard work? Skye slumped back in her chair, a sulky look on her face.

- - -

"I can't believe it!" Skye said, pacing in front of the fireplace. "I just can't!"

"Skye, it's alright. I got what I wanted," Cedric said, taking a swig of his Butterbeer. The large celebration party that had just been held in the common room was waning, and only a few drunken fifth years, Cedric and Skye remained.

"What have you ever done to him?"

"It's not his fault, Skye!"

Skye stopped pacing, looking at Cedric with sadness in her face. Cedric had just yelled at her for the first time in months. She knew, at that point, that she had to cool down, so she chose to sat in a chair beside Cedric in front of the fireplace. There was a silence as they both stared into the fire, watching the flames flicker softly.

"I'm scared," Cedric said.

"I'm worse than you are."

"The first task is in under a month. I don't know what it is so I don't know how I'm going to prepare myself."

"I have faith you'll do fine."

"You just said you were scared for me!"

Skye laughed and used a refilling charm to fill up her Butterbeer.

"Well, whatever you do, I'm behind you supporting you."

"That's all I needed to hear," Cedric said, leaning over and kissing Skye.

- - -

Cedric sat at the lakeside with Shaun, Valencia and Anne. It was about a week before the first task, and tensions were running high in Cedric's mind. He only had a few days before he went and risked everything for glory and the 20 chance of a thousand galleons. He was beginning to regret entering the tournament.

Milo walked to the lakeside, a bag in his hands.

"Look what I got!" he said, pulling pins out of the bag and handing them out to everyone. "Anti-Potter pins!"

Cedric turned over the pin, which was enchanted to say _'Support CEDRIC DIGGORY the REAL Hogwarts champion'_. Milo tapped his with his wand and showed everyone how the words changed to _'POTTER STINKS'_. This caused Valencia to laugh uncontrollably as she placed the pin onto her robes.

"Hey, look, it's Potter!" Shaun said, pointing to the approaching fourth Hogwarts champion.

"Potter!" Milo called, pointing to his badge. "What do you think?"

"I find them quite fashionable," Anne said.

"Cedric, can I talk to you?"

Harry walked away from the group, and Cedric followed closely.

"If it's about the pins, I'll get them to take them off, they're just being stupid..."

"No, it's not that, Cedric. It's the first task. It's dragons."

Cedric felt as if his brain had shut down in shock. "Dragons?" he sputtered out.

"Krum and Fleur probably both know, so I thought it would be best for you to know, as well, to make it fair."

After a long pause, Cedric said, "Thanks Harry. I'm gonna go now."

- - -

"Dragons!" Cedric said to Skye when he saw her in the common room. "Dragons! How am I going to deal with dragons! Do I have to destroy one? Or do I have to charm one, or what do I have to do? Skye, I'm so nervous!"

Skye sighed, and stared at her knees which she had pulled up to her chin. "I don't know, Cedric. Dragons are so dangerous. I thought Dumbledore said that the challenges were going to be safe this year."

"Well, he obviously lied!" Skye sensed a bit of panic in Cedric's voice.

"Well you can't talk to him. He'd know that you know, and he'd know that Harry knows, and...oh, Cedric, what're you going to do?"

"I don't know." Cedric took a seat on the bed beside Skye and wrapped his arms around her. "I just...don't know anymore. I want to pull out of this."

"Don't say that, Cedric, you're just facing a setback. It's better that you know than going into it in a few days and not knowing that you're going to face this."

"That's why I love you," Cedric said. "You're always right. I think, to clear my head, I'm going to go for a jog around the grounds."

"Brilliant!"

Skye watched as Cedric pulled a sleeveless shirt and track pants out of one of his drawers.

"Need help getting changed?" Skye cooed, standing up and pushing his robes off of his shoulders. Cedric kissed her for a long period of time before letting go.

"Now, really, I want to go out for a jog."

"Alright," Skye said, slumping onto his bed.

"When I come back, I'll give you a surprise," Cedric said, giving Skye a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out of the boys' dormitories, a little extra spring in his step.

- - -

**A/N: **Y'know. Read and review. Do your thing. Y'all.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **Hullo! I like cheese!

_Sitting in the living room the dog is catching caramel corn,_

_I never wanted a change,_

_Brushing teeth and combing hair,_

_I guess they do this everywhere,_

_I guess it's time for a change,_

_I never wanted a change,_

_I think it's time for a change._

-Murder by Death. Song: Intergalactic Menopause

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter eighteen: Times are changing

Skye held on to Amos's arm, her fingernails digging so hard into his skin there were drops of blood dripping onto the arm of his chair. She had a slight twitch under her eye that was returning that usually occurred when she was extremely nervous.

Amos, meanwhile, didn't notice Skye's nervous tendencies as he was in shock, himself, to see before him his lone son standing in front of a Swedish Short-Snout that had it's head raised up to the heavens as it puffed smoke out of it's nostrils. Cedric stared at the creature, desperation in his eyes. He looked up at where Skye was sitting, smiled at her, looked back at the dragon and ran towards it, more confidence within him knowing that she was there to support him.

He flicked his wand and said an incantation that was inaudible over the crowds cheering as he approached the dragon. A spark shot out of his wand and hit one of the eggs, causing it to transform into a dog. The dragon turned it's attention from Cedric to the dog and began chasing the dog around the arena, attempting to set the jumpy dog aflame as it bounded from side-to-side.

Cedric ran towards the eggs, caution in his step as he kept one eye on the sparkling golden egg and another on the dragon.

Skye gave a scream as the worst of her came true; the dragon finally burned the dog to a crisp and turned onto Cedric, an odd fire in it's eyes as it saw Cedric climb up the mountain of eggs, trying to get to the golden egg which sat at the top, glinting in the sunlight.

"CEDRIC!" Skye tried to shout above the crowds, getting his attention to alert him of the oncoming dragon.

Skye wasn't sure if Cedric had heard her or if it was good luck, but after calling his name Cedric turned around to see the dragon running towards him, whipping her head back and giving out a shrieking call.

Cedric's mouth went open as he saw the rampaging dragon open his wings and begin to hover above the ground, charging towards him. Cedric scrambled through the other eggs, tripping on one and reaching out his arm so that the golden egg was just past his fingertips. He was beginning to stand so he could make his final leap to the egg when the dragon opened her mouth wide to reveal rows of teeth, and fire spurteded out of her mouth, hitting Cedric square in the face. Skye jumped up and gave a loud scream as she saw her boyfriend being burned to a crisp. Once the dragon had taken a deep breath to give another spurt of fire, Cedric had leaped forwards enough that he could grip the egg in his arms before stumbling down the mound of eggs and running out the exit where he had came in, swerving to avoid the jets of fire the dragon shot at him.

At this point, Skye was almost in hysteria at seeing what had happened to Cedric. She ran out of her seat and down the flights of stairs, skipping two or three stairs with every jump, causing her to trip and fall flat on her face at the landing of the last flight of stairs. She stood up and shook her head, feeling disoriented as she ran, swerving, towards the champions tent.

She swung open the flaps to the tent, breathless as she saw Madame Pomfrey mumbling angrily as she applied a thick orange paste to his face.

"Oh, Cedric!" Skye cried, running over to his bedside and taking his hand. "Is he going to be alright?" Skye asked, addressing Madame Pomfrey.

"He'll be fine, dear. He just needs some time to heal."

"Wonderful!" Skye said, squeezing Cedric's hand. Cedric gave her a half-grin from the side of his face which wasn't as severely burnt.

Madame Pomfrey continued to apply the paste as Skye and Cedric turned their ears to the stands, trying to hear what the news on the other champions were. They mostly heard occasional gasps or cheers as the other three champions completed the task.

"You did great, Cedric," Skye said, when she figured the last champion, Harry, had finished.

"Except for this!" Cedric pointed to his face.

"But it was a brilliant bit of Transfiguration with that dog!"

"Thanks, love. I'd give you a kiss, but I'm pretty sure you don't want paste on your face."

Skye giggled and Cedric stood up when Ludo Bagman came in to usher him to the other side of the tent. Skye took this as the time to leave; she exited the tent to see Amos outside, wringing his hands together in worry.

"Is he alright?" Amos asked, putting his hands on Skye's shoulders. She smiled at him.

"He'll be fine. Though they're some nasty burns, the school nurse knows what she's doing."

Amos pulled Skye into a tight embrace, apparently happy his son was ok.

When he let go, he looked Skye in the eyes, a smile on his face. "I'm so proud of him; he's achieved such great things. He's just like...just like his brother."

Skye nodded, a tear welling in the corner of her eye. "I know."

Cedric walked out of the tent a few moments later, a stupid smile on his face and the golden egg tucked under his arm. Amos pulled his son into a tight hug.

"That's my boy, getting past dragons! I knew you could do it! I'm glad you ended up with just the Short-Snout, you have no idea the temperament of the Hungarian Horntail!"

Cedric laughed lightly, feeling bad for Harry knowing that he had to conquer the Horntail instead of him.

"Excuse me!"

Cedric turned around, finding himself face to face with a scrambling woman. She had tight blonde curls and horn-rimmed glasses. She had a dragon-skin handbag in her long fingernails that slightly resembled the color of Skye's nails after digging them into Amos's skin.

"Excuse me," she said again, holding out her hand. "Rita Skeeter, of the Daily Prophet. Tell me, now that you've completed the first task, how does it feel to finish second-best, knowing that you were beaten by a fourth-year? Do you feel discouraged? Embarrased?"

"Well, I think that Harry is fair competition..."

Amos pushed Cedric aside and said to Rita Skeeter, "Cedric has no comment." Amos then grabbed Cedric and Skye, who looked shocked and confused, by the arms and walked them towards the castle in a flurry of robes.

"Who was she?" Skye asked.

"Daily Prophet. She's been nothing but a bother to my department after she got wind of magical creatures being involved in the tournament."

"I've met her before," Cedric said, looking down at the ground, "at the weighing of the wands. All she wanted to do was talk to Harry. Harry, Harry, Harry. Not to be selfish, but she treated me like the background of Harry's portrait!"

Skye made a tutting sound, and shook her head. "Awful."

Once the three of them had reached the doors to the Entrance Hall, Cedric and Skye bade Amos goodbye, promising to see him at the next task, for Cedric was remaining at school during the holidays to maintain his duties as Head Boy.

"Come on, Skye, let's go to the washroom and get off some of this goo."

- - -

"_Pine fresh_," Cedric said to the door that lead to the Prefect's washroom.

The door creaked open and, with a quick glance down the corridor, Cedric stepped in, Skye following behind him.

Cedric placed the golden egg beside the large bathtub and turned a few of the knobs, sending warm bath water and a jet stream of bubbles into the tub. Cedric walked over to the mirrors, where he ran water and began splashing it onto his face.

"Here," Skye said, walking up behind him. "Let me help you out with that."

She took her wand out of her pocket and, with a flick, disappeared the gook that covered his face, revealing Cedric's handsome face once again. Cedric looked into the mirror, smiling.

"It's a bit scarred still," he said, pointing to a scar that ran along his cheek and touching a part of his forehead that was still a little raw, "but it looks much better."

Cedric turned around and slipped his arm on the lower part of Skye's back, dipping her down.

"Now, for the real reason I brought you here."

Cedric bent down and kissed Skye passionately, taking her a bit off guard. He swept her back up, threw her robes aside and began working at the buttons of her shirt.

"Ooh, Cedric, are we gonna clean ourselves up?" she asked as he stripped her down and walked her closer to the bathtub. Once he had taken everything off, he shoved her into the bathtub and unbuttoned his shirt, throwing it off to the side. He pulled off his belt and, once he had unzipped his trousers (A/N: hehe trouser XD) Skye grabbed the bottoms and pulled them down, repeating her action with his boxer shorts and pulling him into the water, sending a splash everywhere and sending the egg flying into the water

"Frisky, are we?" Cedric asked, sitting on a shelf in the water.

"I think so," Skye said, swimming towards him and placing her legs on either side of his, her knees on the shelf, and kissed him with her mouth open, slipping her tongue in and out of his mouth. She moved her hips to the rhythm of her tongue, causing Cedric to breathe deeply in anticipation. Skye smiled out of the corner of her mouth as she felt his hard-on brush against her thigh. Cedric slipped down the shelf so his ears dipped into the water, Skye still kissing him.

"Wait!" he said, causing Skye to tilt her head back in shock. "Listen."

Skye put her ears under the water, and heard voices, saying something that still seemed a little blurred from the sound of the running water.

"The egg!" Cedric said. "It's coming from the egg!"

Skye rolled to the side of Cedric as he swam to the middle of the bath, where he picked up the egg. He then turned off the taps and, plunging his head underwater, opened the egg and remained underwater momentarily. His head sprung from the top of water and he had a confused look on his face.

"You should hear this," he said. "On the count of three, we dip our heads underwater. One, two..."

Skye dipped her head into the water beneath a heavy layer of bubbles, and heard a chorus of eerie voices sing from the egg.

'_Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you're searching, ponder this:_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we've took,_

_But past an hour - the prospect's black_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'_

Skye's head emerged from the surface, and she took a deep breath in. Cedric popped up from the water, as well.

"What does it mean?" Cedric asked.

"I don't know!" Skye said. "We'll take another listen."

Both of them dipped their heads underwater, listening to the song again.

"Ok, we'll take it line for line," Cedric suggested. "The first one...come seek us where our voices sound."

"Underwater," Skye said. "It's something underwater."

"But what's underwater?"

"I don't know. The giant squid?"

"Well, that could work. But there aren't multiple giant squids, are there?"

"Giant squid babies?"

Skye turned when she heard a giggle behind them, and saw a window that was made out of a portrait of a mermaid.

"That's it! Merpeople! It's merpeople!"

"Good job, Skye. Ok, next line. We cannot sing above the ground...definitely merpeople. And while you're searching ponder this...so, we have to search underwater. Ok, we're at a start.

"We've taken what you'll sorely miss."

"They're taking something valuable!" Skye said. "The most important thing to you."

"Are merpeople materialistic?"

"Very funny. And, I think, you'll have an hour to get it back, or it's gone forever. It all makes sense! The merpeople are going to hide something that's really valuable to you underwater and you have one hour to search for it and find it."

Cedric nodded, looking down at the water in thought. Something that's extremely valuable. What could they take? His broom? His Head Boy badge? His...

His head shot up, and he looked at Skye.

They were going to take Skye.

He knew what he was going to have to do.

- - -

**A/N: **What's he gonna have to do? Well, durr. Read on. Homies. Then you'll find out. Luff luff.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: **...marmot.

_Lies make it better  
Lies are forever  
Lies to go home to  
Lies you wake up to  
Lies from the alter  
Lies make you falter  
Lies keep your mouth fed  
Lies till your death bed  
Lies_

-Billy Talent. Song: Lies

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter nineteen: Lies are forever

"Where are you going?" Skye asked as Cedric towel-dried himself quickly and began to throw his clothes on.

"Umm...emergency homework."

"Emergency homework? Cedric, don't lie," Skye swam to the edge of the tub and watched Cedric hastily put his clothes on.

"See you later," Cedric gave Skye a quick kiss and practically ran to the door, exiting and leaving Skye shocked and confused.

- - -

Cedric sat beside Shaun in Transfiguration a week later, staring down at his paper as he scribbled answers to his quiz.

"_Describe the main problem faced with human transfiguration."_

"Having your girlfriend being stolen by merpeople," Cedric wrote, quickly disappearing it with a flick of his wand.

The only thing on his mind was that egg, and he had listened to it over and over again. There had to be a flaw; this was cruel and unusual. The merpeople were crazy; who knew what they could do to Skye?

Meanwhile, Skye sat in Arithmancy, attempting to follow Professor Vector as she explained the difference between logarithmic equations and logarithmic functions (A/N: I have no idea what they study in Arithmancy, so I thought I'd throw some calculus stuff in there). She was quickly scribbling notes down absent-mindedly, for she was more concerned about Cedric. They'd barely spoken since the Prefect's bathroom rendezvous, and she was concerned she had done something wrong. The way he looked at her she was pretty sure she had; but what? Was she too forward? Did he finally realize he was too good for her?

No. That couldn't be it.

They'd been together for almost 5 years. He couldn't just change his mind because of a stupid chant.

Or could he?

Cedric finished up the quiz and handed it to the front of the class just as the bell rang, eager to get out of the class so he could spend some more time in the bathroom, thinking over the egg.

"No, no leaving yet," Professor McGonagall said, sending a groan through the class as everyone took their seats. "I have an announcement.

"In regards to the tournament, we will be hosting a Yule Ball this year that will be held on Christmas Eve for those who wish to remain at the school for Christmas break. It is an opportunity for us to socialize with our guests, so I expect you to be on your best behavior and wear your best dress robes. The ball will commence at 8 o'clock, finishing at midnight, in the Great Hall. That is all."

Cedric stood up, reaching for the door in eagerness.

"Diggory! A word."

Cedric slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes, turning towards Professor McGonagall.

"Yes?"

"You do know that you'll have to have a partner to the Ball."

"Yes ma'am."

"And you and the other champions will be opening the Ball."

"Yes ma'am."

"Then that is all."

Cedric turned to the door and opened it quickly, heading out of the classroom and through the hallway.

"Cedric!"

Cedric stopped and turned around, to see Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw fifth year, running towards him.

"Hey," she said, breathlessly.

"Hey," Cedric said. He knew Cho a little bit, recognized her from being in his Ancient Runes class because she was so advanced she had managed to get into the NEWT class of it.

"Listen, I wanted to know if...if you'll go to the Yule Ball with me, Cedric. I heard about it in my last class and..." Cho looked up at him, batting her eyelashes.

"No, that's ok. Thanks, but I'm gonna go with Skye."

Cho drooped her head, staring down at her feet in embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry I...forgot...see you..."

She turned slowly and walked down the hallway, her shoulders slumped from rejection.

At that point, Cedric felt as if someone had lit a switch in his mind.

"Hey, Cho!" he called. She turned around quickly, her long black hair whipping wistfully and beautifully. "I think I will go to the Ball with you, after all."

Cho's face lit up like a lightbulb. "Kay! Great! I'll see you then!" she waved and headed down the hallway, skipping once she was out of eyeshot.

- - -

Cedric took a seat beside Skye in the common room, having missed her at dinner.

"Hey," he said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Hey," she said, sighing. "Cedric; what's up with you?"

"Sitting next to you."

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean, with you. You're different."

"How so?"

"We barely talk anymore. Ever since the egg. I mean, Cedric...we haven't had sex in over a week!"

"It's been that long? Well, nothing's wrong. I'm having...umm...erectile dysfunction?"

"Cedric! Don't joke about that! What am I doing wrong?"

"It's not you. There's nothing wrong. Really. What do you think of the Yule Ball?"

"Oh," Skye said, sighing. "I don't think much of it. It's just a stupid event to get dressed up and make a fool of yourself as you roll across the dance floor. I don't think I'll go."

"Great!"

"What's great?"

"Well, I...Skye, I asked someone else to the Yule Ball."

Skye's mouth shot open as wide as her eyes as she felt her stomach drop to her knees.

"You...what?" she said, barely audibly.

"I asked Cho Chang to the Yule Ball."

Skye felt bombs explode around her. It was as if her life was blowing up before her eyes.

"So that's what's wrong! You're cheating on me with that slut!"

"That's not it, Skye, that's not it..."

"DON'T LIE TO ME! THAT IS IT! I'M JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

"Don't say that, really..."

"Oh, let me hear your petty excuse."

"Well, err..." Cedric stared down at his feet. He hadn't quite figured out how to get himself out of this situation. He had expected her to blow up at him like this, but...

"I figure that there's a lot of fish in the sea, and..."

"SO I JUST DON'T DO IT FOR YOU? YOU NEED SOMEONE ELSE!"

"SHUT UP SKYE! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH!"

"MAYBE IF YOU STOPPED LYING TO ME I WOULD!"

The entire common room was staring at the two of them, now. They were both standing up, their noses almost touching. Skye's face was beat red. Skye's shoulders slumped and she turned around and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Cedric asked softly. "Skye?"

She whipped around to face him, her lips pursed and her cheeks wet with tears.

"To find myself, Cedric."

"That's not it, please don't go, I..."

Skye slammed the portrait on him (with an "ooh, really!" from the portrait) and stomped down the hallway, her robes wet with tears.

- - -

Cedric slumped down in his chair, staring down at his knees. What had he done?

Valencia stood in front of him, her hands on her hips. She looked down at him and shook her head.

"Well, now you know how it feels when you break hearts. Feels good, doesn't it, knowing you've smashed someone into pieces?" Valencia brought her hand up and smacked him across the face, the side with the scar from facing the dragon. Cedric took a short breath of pain in.

"You've just gotten too arrogant for your own good, haven't you? I told her you were a bad apple. But she just wouldn't listen. She was too busy being in love."

Valencia stomped off, leaving Cedric in tears in her wake.

- - -

"SKYE!" Chad called, when he saw her running down the corridor that lead to the Great Hall. "Skye!"

She turned around to look at him. He'd never seen her look worse; her hair was wiry and frail, her eyes watery and red, her skin was pale and her lips thin. She had her eyes wide and her arms wrapped around herself, and she was rocking back and forth.

"You ok?"

"Ok. Ok. Ok. Ok."

"Skye?"

"Ok. Ok. Ok. Ok. Ok. Ok. Ok..."

"Skye, come now, let's get you in the..."

"GO AWAY, CHAD!" she snapped. She turned around and walked to the doors to the Great Hall, swinging them open and walking through, stumbling slightly as she walked. She turned around, looking at him.

"I'm going to find myself. Ok. Ok. Ok..."

Chad reached his arm out, hoping he could reach out and fix her in some way. She just shivered and closed the door, and he heard her footsteps pound as she ran out the door, to places he was unsure of himself.

- - -

Skye was out on the grounds, her feet immersed in snow. She tripped over her robes and fell face first into the snow, feeling the cold rush through her veins.

"I'm okay," she muttered, standing up and walking towards the lake, having discarded her robes.

"I'm okay," she repeated, having reached the edge of the lake. She discarded her uniform and jumped into the icy water, feeling it envelop her. She dunked her head into the water, hoping that the freezing would bring her back to reality. She pulled her head up, and screamed to the sky.

"I GOT DUMPED!" she screeched. "I GOT FUCKED OVER!"

She pounded the surface of the water with her fists, making nearby ducks fly up in dismay.

"What do you think of your wonderful brother now, Brayden?" she asked the sky, as if she wanted Brayden to come down and fix things. She drooped her head and wept into the water.

"What have I done wrong?"

- - -

**A/N: **passes Kleenex around I feel the pain. I wrote it. Well...err...read and review. And whatnot.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: **Does anybody like to play marbles? I've always wanted to learn. And listen to the song "For Martha" by the Smashing Pumpkins if you like slower songs...because it kicks. I'm serious.

_Your picture out of time  
Left aching in my mind  
Shadows kept alive..._

-Smashing Pumpkins. Song: For Martha.

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter twenty: Revenge is sweet.

Skye lay on her back on the surface of the water, watching the sun spill it's early morning rays onto the still water, awaking the birds and other Hogwarts students. She had been classified as 'missing' for the past three days; when she was, in fact, taking a vacation for herself, away from all the questions and judgmental eyes of her peers.

She had spent Thursday evening through Friday in the lake area, passing through different stages of loss, and some other mixed emotions; first she blamed herself, then she blamed him, then she blamed the rest of the world, then she became afraid, then she tried to hide herself, then she began to think of the benefits. That period was shortest lived, because it was shortly followed by another period of fear. She, at this point, is going through a period in which she feels a hollow within herself. Saturday she spent wandering through the forest, lost within the forest and within her own thoughts. She then spent Sunday looking past love, and at the other good things in life. Even to today, a bright and sunny Monday morning, she has yet to speak a word, nor touch food or water, nor sleep. This was her fast before she returned to the school in a matter of minutes to begin her master plan.

Her plan was to show Cedric that she was not weak and that she could move on; she also wanted to prove that she could be beautiful with or without him. She could not show him how she truly felt; she truly felt as if she had lost the greatest thing that had ever happened to her, and she felt as if she was missing part of herself.

She continued floating on the water's impenetrable surface, lost in her memories of better times.

"Skye?"

Skye gave a scream and jumped, causing her to sink beneath the surface and sending buckets of freezing water up her nose. She broke the surface and took a deep breath in before coughing profusely.

"Are you alright?"

"No," she gasped, bobbing up and down from the water, taking in deep breaths and coughing before swimming to the shore.

"Here, let me help you."

Skye grabbed the person's hand as he hoisted her up. She felt pretty stupid, standing there in her translucent blouse, soaked pants and trainers.

"George?" she said softly, looking up into the redhead's eyes. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Better question for you! You've been the talk of the town, with your breakup and then disappearance. Everyone's been so worried about you!"

"I have that effect on people," she mumbled, looking down at her toes as she dug one into the ground.

"Let's get back to the castle."

George took his robes off and draped them over Skye's shoulders, picking up her wet robes and carrying them with him.

The two were silent as they shuffled through the frosted grass back to the castle, Skye staring either at the clear skies or down at her feet. She felt good at the moment, because she knew at least she had Fred and George to count on.

"Where is Fred?"

"He's gone to spend some time with his new lady, Angelina. They've been inseparable ever since he asked her to the stupid Yule Ball."

"I think it's stupid too. That's the reason Cedric and me...well, I'm sure you know by now."

"That's so sad. I always thought you two were meant to be together; he seemed better than that, it makes no sense."

"I know. I just don't understand..."

At this point, Skye was on the verge of tears. George took this as a signal to shut his trap, and kept quiet until they reached the Entrance Hall.

"Well. I'm heading to my Common Room. See you," Skye said, giving George a quick hug before heading down the stairs that lead to the area by the kitchens where her Common Room was.

"Wait!" George called, causing Skye to stop in her tracks and turn around quickly.

"I...I have your robes," George said, holding them out on a shaky hand.

"Oh, thanks, I guess I have yours too."

They quickly exchanged robes and, after an awkward pause, set off in their separate directions.

Skye reached the Common Room and ran up to her dormitories, changing quickly before heading down to breakfast. She took a quick look in the mirror and, with a _pop!_ changed her hair to a bright shade of red. She took a deep breath before opening the doors to the Great Hall. Most eyes were on her, in shock of her abrupt return after her period of time being dubbed missing. Professor Dumbledore, who was previously chatting with Professor McGonagall, stood when Skye opened the door. Professor Snape stood as well but, unlike Dumbledore, he face read anger, rather than concern.

"Miss Cunningham!" Professor Snape snarled. "My office. Now."

"No, Severus, I believe this is my business. My office, please."

"But, she's..."

"I realize that, Severus. But I believe this is a matter that I should deal with."

Skye stared at Professor Dumbledore as he left his chair and exited the Hall before jogging to catch up with his long strides. They quickly reached his office, where Dumbledore entered and sat in his chair, beckoning Skye to the chair before him.

"Please, enlighten me on why you chose to forgo your classes on Friday and disappear for the previous two days?"

"This may sound odd, sir, but I was trying to find myself. Things have been a little rough; my mind is constantly on the prophecy and I no longer have my main support. I feel as if, lately, I have become the leaning tower of Pisa. Things are a little unbalanced, so I used some time off to try and fix it."

"You believe that missing classes in the most vital year of school is going to fix things?"

"Emotionally, yes."

"Why did you choose not to inform anyone of your quest?"

"I didn't wish to be bothered. Please, Professor, things have been difficult already, and I want you to understand that my studies are of the utmost importance. But I needed this, sir. I feel much better, and I want you to know I will never do anything like this ever again."

"Your father was concerned."

"My father does not feel concern for me!" Skye snapped.

"He does, he just does not wish to show it. Concern, he believes, is a sign of weakness."

"Concern is love, and caring."

"That is your opinion, and part of the reason you are in Hufflepuff as he was in Slytherin. Now please, let us fill our bellies with the wonderful foods our house-elves have prepared so you are healthy enough to focus on your studies."

Professor Dumbledore stood and swept his arm in the direction of the door which, after a backwards glance, Skye stood and exited through. She walked down the short corridor back to the Great Hall, her eyes on her toes. She was lucky she had escaped without punishment. She swung open the doors to the Great Hall and entered.

She quickly walked to the Hufflepuff table. She sat beside Chad who was sitting at the end closest to her.

"Sweetie!" he cried, throwing his arms around her as she sat beside him. "Oh darling, it'll be ok, that awful man, how could he do that to you?"

"I don't know, and that's the worst part."

As she said this, Cedric passed by in front of her and she turned her nose to the air as he stared at her, an astonished look on his face.

"But I'm gonna give him hell for doing it."

- - -

"Constant vigilance!" Professor Moody shouted, smacking his ruler on Skye's desk as she slept on her "Standard Book of Spells, Grade seven", causing her to jump several feet.

"Sleeping will not save your life, Miss Cunningham!"

Skye yawned and nodded.

"Now, today, we will do a review on the Patronus charm, which I'm sure you all did in your sixth year. Everyone, get a partner, and I want to see everyone produce a corporeal Patronus by the end of class!"

Skye partnered up with Chad, who produced a marmot as his Patronus.

"Watch this," she whispered to Chad. Skye turned around quickly, so she was facing Cedric's back.

"_Expecto Patronum!" _

A sleek silver horse erupted from her wand and galloped straight into Cedric's back, sending him lurching forwards so he hit the ground, causing the entire class to break out in laughter.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were a Dementor. You suck the happiness out of people just like one."

There was a collective _ooh_ throughout the class as Cedric stared at Skye, opening and closing his mouth as if he wished to say something but couldn't get anything out. He grumbled as he pushed himself up from the ground. He turned himself back to Milo, attempting to pretend as if nothing had happened, though the entire class had their eyes on him, including Skye, who had her arms crossed expectantly.

"What?" he asked, his eyes scanning his peers. Slowly, one by one, everyone, spare Skye, resumed practicing their Patronus charms.

"_Expecto Patronum!" _Cedric shouted, attempting a Patronus charm, though only having a puff of silvery smoke pathetically emit from his wand, causing Skye to laugh harshly. Cedric's shoulders sunk when Skye turned back to Chad, who was watching his marmot glide above the class.

"She's so hot when she's vengeful!" Cedric muttered to Milo.

- - -

In the weeks leading up to the Yule Ball, Skye refused to speak a word to Cedric but rather flaunted herself in shorter skirts with more makeup and fancier hair. A week before the Yule Ball, Skye was taking a walk with George Weasley around the grounds in celebration of the end of classes.

"So, George. I was thinking. Would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me...as friends, of course?"

George puffed his chest out as a smile overtook his face. "I'd love to!"

Skye smiled and gave him a hug. "Thanks so much, I really appreciate it."

"You have no idea," he mumbled.

- - -

"Skye! Oh, my dear Skye!"

Skye smiled as Chad sat beside her at supper, the largest grin on his face she had ever seen.

"My dearest Skye, guess who has a hot date to the Yule Ball?"

"Cedric," Skye grumbled.

"No, silly pants! Me!"

Skye gasped and said, "with who?"

Chad leaned in close and whispered, "Lee Jordan. He's a sixth year Gryffindor."

"He's friends with my date!"

"You have a date?"

"As of this afternoon, I'm going with George Weasley."

"Wow! This is so cool! I'm so happy for you!"

"And me for you!"

"I smell an orgy!" Chad said, making Skye laugh uncontrollably.

"Oh, I wish."

- - -

**A/N: **Chad, my itty bitty gay characters got a date; I'm sorry Lee fans, he's the first guy that came to my head next to Draco, but Draco's coming in a little later, it's not his time yet. So read, and review. I know things might be a little confusing right now, but they'll explain themselves eventually.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: **I think I'm going crazy.

_Dance, Dance  
We're falling apart to half time  
Dance, Dance  
And these are the lives you love to lead  
Dance this is the way they'd love  
If they knew how misery loved me_

-Fall Out Boy. Song: Dance, Dance

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter twenty-one: Dance with me.

"But honey, the Yule Ball's tomorrow!" Chad whined as Skye placed another slice of cheesecake onto her dinner plate. "That is going to go straight to your thighs!"

"I'm not trying to impress anyone!" Chad raised one eyebrow, giving Skye a skeptical look. "Oh, stop it. Well, I'm not going to starve myself to do it. I don't even know what I'm going to wear, or what I'm going to do with my hair, or makeup...not like it matters, he's already attracted to Cho..."

"I have an idea! I think I should make you up!"

"Really?"

"I promise, I won't do anything stupid. I think I'm fashionable enough to make you look so gorgeous, the men will be dropping on their faces!"

- - -

The night of the Yule Ball rolled around, and Skye was sitting on Chad's bed, makeup splayed around her, dresses askew on the floor, as he paced, occasionally giving her a glance and nodding, or frowning, before continuing to pace.

"That one," he said, pointing to a floor-length charcoal dress. "Try it on."

Skye slipped out of her clothes and into the dress, Chad making a tutting sound as she did this.

"It won't do, it washes you out, and makes you look fat. Next!"

Skye rolled her eyes and picked up a green dress, but before she had even attempted putting it on Chad interrupted her with a "Next!"

She held up a short white dress, but Chad just shook his head. Dress after dress, color after color, cut after cut.

Skye dug deep down into her pile, pulling out a canary yellow dress.

"Come on, Skye, I'm getting desperate!"

And then Chad saw the dress.

It was strapless and low in the back; it cut off just above her ankles in the front but trailed behind her in the back. It was a deep shade of violet that complimented and brought out her eyes perfectly.

"That one!" he said, excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "That's the one!"

He paired it with a pair of light purple open-toed heels that had ribbons that strapped up her legs.

"Oh, darling you look perfect! Now, accessories and hair and you will have them on their feet!"

After some trial and error, Skye finally completed the look. She had her hair blonde, shoulder-length and wavy; half-pulled up with side-swept straightened bangs. She had smokey eyeshadow on and had layer upon layer of mascara to make her eyes really pop. She had a tinge of blush and light pink lip gloss on. Her bare neckline was accentuated with a teardrop-shaped diamond necklace she had received from Cedric on their third anniversary. She also had a silver bracelet and ring on that matched her long dangling silver earrings.

"You...look...fabulous!" Chad stammered. Skye gave a twirl, and Chad gave her a skeptical look. "Did you emphasize your butt?"

"No..." Skye said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "And what about you? What are you going to wear?"

"Oh, I'm not going too fancy; white dress robes, black shirt underneath, white bow tie. I thought it would be cute if I went opposite to Lee!

"That is cute!"

"Skye! George is waiting!" Casey called from the landing of the boys' dormitories.

"I'll be right there!"

Skye looked at Chad, who smiled to her. "This is it. This is your moment. Go and get him!"

Skye smiled back at him, giving him a quick hug before walking down the stairs slowly for dramatic effect.

"Oh...wow..." George stammered, as he saw her walking down the stairs, a large smile on her face at seeing his jaw reach the floor.

"How do I look?" Skye asked, giving a quick spin so the dress flowed out slightly.

"Fan...amaze...wow."

"Thanks," Skye gave George a big hug, which he returned in shock. "Shall we get going?"

George nodded stupidly as they left the Hufflepuff common room arm-in-arm. They didn't meet anyone in the corridor that lead to the Great Hall.

"Here, let me," George offered, opening the door to the Hall for Skye.

There was only about 100 students in the Hall who were mumbling among themselves. All of them went silent when Skye entered the room; she was a show-stopper.

"Wow," she heard a voice mutter. There was an awkward silence as she took George by the arm and lead him to a table; he stared at her butt the entire time. Slowly, the room began talking again.

"Why are they staring at me?" she whispered to him.

"Oh, I don't know," George said sarcastically, "maybe because you look like a movie star!"

They both ordered Butterbeer from the waiter and by the time they had finished their second glasses, the Ball was about to begin. They stood up together and people separated so the two could stand in the front, watching the champions enter.

The doors from the Entrance Hall opened and, one by one, the champions entered. First was Viktor Krum, a beautiful yet unfamiliar girl at his arm, with Viktor in long dress robes of fir. He stared down at the girl and smiled lightly at her, and she gave him a goofy grin back. The next to enter was Fleur Delacour, who had Roger Davies on his arm who stared at her every move as she flounced in all of her beauty to the front, her head high. Next was, with a shiver from Skye, Cedric. He was wearing simple black dress robes and Cho was clutching onto his arm, a vision in white in a short kimono. Cedric looked over at Skye and his jaw dropped as their eyes met. Skye reluctantly looked away and at Georges face, clutching his arm tighter as she smiled at him. Cedric passed and her shoulders sunk as she looked down at her feet and shuffled them on the floor. She didn't even acknowledge Harry's passing as he stared at her, unsure on where her unseen beauty had sprouted from.

"Hey, bro!" Fred said from behind them, causing George to jump. "Nice catch you got there."

George leaned in to Fred and whispered, "no kidding." he leaned back and gave Angelina a quick look up and down. "You didn't do so bad yourself!"

Fred roughly pulled Angelina towards him. "I know. Hey, Angie, wanna dance?"

Angelina nodded and the two of them disappeared to the dance floor, George taking Skye to the floor as they danced as well.

The two of them spun recklessly, not caring about what others thought of them. They bumped into Fred and Angelina a few times before it became a bit of a battle. The other students had cleared room for the couples as they danced madly like there was no tomorrow.

After about three songs, Skye asked George if they could take a breather.

"Sure, just wait here, I have an idea."

George walked over to the table where Cho was sitting alone because Cedric had went to dance with Fleur. Skye watched as George chatted up Cho for a second before leaving for the bar and coming back with a drink in his hand for Cho. She took a large swig of it and screamed as large red blemishes began springing up all over her body. She stood up quickly and ran out of the Great Hall, crying, her wide sleeves flowing behind her. George walked back to Skye's table with his chest puffed out and, when he sat back down, the two began laughing loudly.

"That was brilliant!" Skye said. "What was it?"

"Oh, something I picked up in Herbology. She won't be better for a few days."

"Now she looks as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside!"

The two of them laughed before returning to the dance floor for some more crazy dancing.

After a few songs passed, Skye felt a tap on her shoulder and turned quickly.

"Excuse me, but I just wanted to say you look..._beautiful_...tonight. My date and I would like to invite you to ze New Year party in our carriage?"

Skye couldn't believe her eyes. It was Fleur giving her a compliment!

"Thank you so much, I would love to go!"

"We are meeting there at ten, so I will be pleased to see you there. What is your name?"

"Skye Cunningham," she said, sticking out her hand.

"And I'm sure you ave figured that I am Fleur?"

"Yes, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

"I must go. I hope to see you there!"

Skye waved at her before turning back around to face George.

"Why couldn't you get me a dance with her?" he whined.

- - -

Skye lay down on her bed at about two in the morning, when most of the festivities had finally finished. She closed her eyes and only saw blurred visions of people dancing as she felt her head pound from her developed headache from all the dancing. She rubbed her temples and decided to undress quietly to prevent waking up everyone.

Once she had taken off the dress, she lay in her bed, staring at the sheet strung over her bed. She sighed as she remembered how great Cedric had looked tonight without even trying. She sighed. It had almost been a month that they had been apart, and she thought it would kill her to be apart from him any longer. She just missed him so much...

- - -

**A/N: **Shitty chapter. Shitty ending. Er...keep reading, though. I promise good things in the future.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: **I'm so sorry for not updating for like, 5 days now, but things are a little hectic on my end. Updates aren't going to be happening twice a day anymore, unfortunately, more like twice a week. I have a horse who needs care and I have drama practice and classes that are a thousand times harder than last semester so I'm gonna be a little too busy for a set schedule for updates. Sorry folks. Love, the author.

_I had the notion that you'd make me change my ways  
My bad habits would be gone in a matter of days  
I had the feeling that you'd open up my eyes  
To a whole new world that had since been in disguise_

But that day will most likely never come for me  
And it's just my luck to end up getting stuck  
To everything you are 

So tonight I'll sit and pick apart your pictures  
And overanalyze your words  
But the truth is that I've never fallen so hard  
It's taking everything in me  
Just to forget your sweater so far

I had the notion that you'd make me forget the world   
But your indecisive mind shows me that  
You are "just another girl"  
I had the feeling that those looks you gave me were real  
What if I ripped your heart apart at the seams  
Maybe then you'd know how I feel

But that day will most likely never come for me  
And it's just my luck to end up getting stuck   
To everything you are

So tonight I'll sit and pick apart your pictures  
And overanalyze your words  
But the truth is that I've never fallen so hard  
It's taking everything in me  
Just to forget your sweater so far

I can honestly say  
That I never, ever, ever felt this way  
Your lips, your eyelashes, your skin  
These are the parts of your body  
That cause my comatose to begin

I can honestly say That I never, ever, ever felt this way  
Your lips, your eyelashes, your skin  
These are the parts of your body  
That cause my comatose to begin

I will sleep another day  
I don't really need to anyway  
What's the point when my dreams are infected  
With words you used to say  
I will breathe in a moment  
As long as I keep my distance  
I wouldn't want to go messing anything up

So don't go worrying about me  
It's not like I think about you constantly  
So maybe I do, but that shouldn't affect  
Your life anymore  
I knew it the moment you walked into the door

So don't go worrying about me  
It's not like I think about this constantly  
So maybe I do, but that shouldn't affect  
Your life anymore  
I knew it the moment you walked into the door

I'll let you get the best of me  
Because there's nothing else that I do well  
I'll let you get the best of me  
Because there's nothing else that I do well  
I'll be the giver and you'll be the taker  
I guess that's how this one's gonna go I'll be the giver and you'll be the taker   
You've got me down on my knees and I proclaim  
All hail the heartbreaker

-The Spill Canvas. Song: All hail the heartbreaker. (A.k.a. Kick-ass song of the day)

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter twenty-two: All hail the heartbreaker.

Skye stood at the door to the Beauxbatons carriage, rocking back and forth from her heels to the balls of her feet in excitement at the party presented before her. She heard voices and music playing loudly inside in a perfect chorus. She gave a quick glance at her watch - 10:10; she wasn't early to seem desperate and she wasn't rudely late, either - before giving a knock with the brass doorknocker. There was a brief pause before the door swiftly opened revealing Fleur in all her glory.

"Come een, Skye, come een!"

Skye swiftly stepped up the stairs and into the carriage. It was like a very large house, compatible for about twenty. There was a main room with a fireplace and many couches, which were all occupied with mostly Beauxbatons students, but a few Hogwarts and Durmstrang students as well. There was a series of doors leading out of the main room which Skye presumed led to the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, or other rooms she was unsure about.

"Firewhisky?" Fleur asked, holding a glass with a flaming liquid inside it out.

"Sure," Skye said, taking the glass from her. She took a large swig of it, realizing that it didn't taste as bad as it had when she was younger. She greedily swallowed the whole glass before setting it down on a nearby table and searching for another one.

"Like it?" Fleur asked, laughing as Skye took another Firewhisky from the bar, taking it all in one swig. Skye felt warmth envelop her body as the hot liquid glided down her throat. When she placed the glass down at the bar she felt a shiver go through her body and she felt her head spin momentarily. She drank another Firewhisky, and things began to turn for the worst.

All she could remember were flashes of the night; she remembered dancing with a boy from Beauxbatons and kissing him repeatedly as they took over the dance floor. She remembered drinking glass after glass of Firewhisky. She also remembered jumping onto the bar and dancing there; she also had flashes of her in the bathroom, on the floor, topless, laughing uncontrollably. At this point, someone picked her up and put her shirt back on. She fell back on the floor.

"I'm staying here!" she whined.

"No," the person said. "We have to go now."

"Why?"

"You're doing stupid things. Come on, let's go."

"Only if you make me."

The person who, at this point, she realized was a boy, picked her up with ease and carried her in his arms out of the carriage and into the cold winter air.

"Stop it!" she whined. "I don't want to go to into the toilet!"

"We're not going into the toilet, I'm taking you bad to your dormitory."

"Dormitory, shmormitory. You're pretty."

"You're drunk."

"That doesn't make you...not not not pretty!"

"Will you..."

"You ermfer!" Skye slurred her last few words into a jumble.

The boy carrying her sighed before going silent as she tried to string together words.

"Ok, enough," he cooed, placing his hand gently over Skye's mouth. "You're just going to say something you regret."

Skye looked into the persons face, with sadness in her eyes at his truth. She looked into the boy's grey eyes, wondering...

"Cedric?" she exclaimed, squirming at the realization it was him that was carrying her. "Let me go!"

"Skye, will you..."

"LET ME GO!"

Cedric sighed and put her down, where she scrambled to stand and run, swerving towards the castle, leaving Cedric standing in her wake, shaking his head.

- - -

Skye arrived at breakfast the next morning (it wasn't really breakfast for everyone else, considering it was two in the afternoon) with a cold cloth on her forehead and black circles under her eyes.

"Where were you last night?" Chad snapped as she sat down next to him. "It was Brayden's memorial, you know, the one you spent hours organizing, and then you just forget to show up!"

"Hangover," Skye muttered.

"Not an excuse! You didn't get back into the common room until three in the morning! What were you thinking? You know how hardy partying the French are!"

"I thought I was going to be back in time, alright?" Skye sniped back. "I had a few too many Firewhiskys and...things just went downhill from there. I'll explain it to you when this damn pounding headache is gone!"

Chad flicked his wand and Skye gave a sigh of relief when the headache ceased.

"Now, explain, and it better be valid."

- - -

Skye stood on the bridge that crosses a section of the lake, the wind whipping through her long brunette hair on a cold Valentine's Day. She had avoided most civilization on this most unfortunate day and chose to, rather than sit with all the in-love Hufflepuffs at lunch, stand and absorb herself in her thoughts. The only thing on her mind at this moment was Cedric, and how he was probably spending his time with Cho. If they were still dating, this would've been their 5 year anniversary...

She kneaded her eyes with her knuckles, wiping away the tears. He was always on her mind, it was undeniable. Yet, she knew that she needed to move on, that it wasn't healthy to have him on her mind as much as he is.

She pulled her photo album out of her bag, running her finger along the picture of her and Cedric kissing that was on the cover. She hadn't looked at the photo album in ages, and she almost missed it. She pulled the picture out of it's pocket and held it up, the sun reflecting onto it. She slowly ripped it in half, then into quarters, then into tiny little pieces before letting the pieces float gracefully into the water. She began ripping Cedric out of all her pictures, tears flowing from her eyes as she released the past into the water. She chose the picture of Cedric with his stupid face on last, for it was when he was at his best; innocent, modest and most importantly, he cared for her and her only. She held the picture up in front of her, slowly letting it slip out of her fingers and float fragilely onto the surface of the water. She smiled as a large mouth appeared and gobbled up the picture, thinking of the irony. The delicious irony.

She stared out at the snow-peaked mountains, watching as a few owls passed by the sun, letters in their mouths, eager to deliver the mail and be admired by their owners. She looked over to her left, where she saw Hagrid sitting beside Madame Maxime on his front porch, her with a beautiful flower in her hand as she smiled at him, obviously in love. She saw them rub noses, and remembered the time that Cedric gave her a bouquet of roses for Valentine's Day for their second anniversary. She wished that things could just go back to the way they used to be, when things were simple. When Cedric and herself was happy, and Chad wasn't holding a grudge against her for missing Brayden's memorial, and when she wasn't concerned about NEWTs or the Triwizard Tournament or what she wanted to do when she graduated or what was ahead of her. She lived for the moment. _'No day but today'_ was what she used to live by. Now, she lives for tomorrow, hoping it will be a better day then today.

She saw Draco Malfoy strut past her on the bridge, shooting her a dirty look before raising his chin and strutting off. She remembered when she first met him, within the first week of her fourth year. When she saw that head of white-blonde hair bobbing throughout the crowd, she ran towards him, grabbing the hair and pulling a large chunk of it out. Draco screamed, and turned towards her. She launched on him, shoving him to the ground and hopelessly pummeling him, screaming about how his father had killed Brayden. He just laid on the ground, crying and wailing hopelessly like a baby until Professor Snape came up behind Skye and pulled her off of him by the scruff of the neck. As Snape dragged her to his office, mumbling in her ear the horrible detentions she would have to serve for the next three months for the physical abuse that she caused to one of his students, she saw Harry Potter standing in the corner, giving her a thumbs up.

She smiled at the thought of her brush with stardom. She had been on Harry's good side since then; well, until of course, he stole Cedric's glory. Skye decided she would cheer on Harry at the next task.

She turned and walked towards the school, deciding now, before Arithmancy started, would be a decent time to begin making a banner for Harry. She always thought burgundy was a nice color. Better than yellow, anyway.

She stopped before she reached the door, a thought racing through her mind.

Everything was about to change.

Well, everything had already changed, but everything needed to change. She had no choice anymore. Everything around her was changing, and she was just going to have to change with it.

- - -

**A/N: **Mmm...internal. Lots and lots of internal stuff. This is basically all the stuff I'm thinking off right now, because I'm in the exact same situation as her...except I didn't get dumped, just rejected. Seriously, action next chapter; like actually happenings. I guess this was more of a test of my writing. Sorry about the long authors notes. Love you all.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: **Sorry about the previous shit chapters. I promise this one will be _buenos_.

_Come on let me hold you, touch you, feel you  
Always  
Kiss you, taste you all night  
Always_

-blink-182. Song: Always

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter twenty-three: Mine, always.

Skye stood in the stands that rose above the lake, 'Harry' written in big gold letters across her face. She was holding one corner of the banner, standing beside Chad who was holding the other corner. Chad had been very forgiving to her after his Valentine's Day rendezvous with Lee, which had presented him in greater spirits than Skye had ever seen him. Chad and Lee were standing side-by-side, holding hands as they jumped up and down chanting "Go, Harry, go!" Skye listened intently when she heard Ludo Bagman's voice echo around them like a loudspeaker, explaining the task.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One...two..."

The three was drowned out by frantic screams and calls to the champions as they dove into the water simultaneously, disappearing from view momentarily. Once they were gone, Skye sat down on the hard floor, dangling her feet down from beneath the railing. She rested her arms on the railing and her chin on her arms.

"Now, all we can do is wait," Skye said to Chad as he sat beside her.

- - -

Nearly an hour passed, uneventful spare Chad and Lee sneaking the occasional kiss. Skye stared bleakly onto the restful surface of the black lake, awaiting the first champion exiting the water with their treasured item.

Skye jumped up and stood as she saw Cedric's head break the surface, a comforting rush going through her body knowing that she was safe. She felt taken aback when Cho's head broke the surface and Cedric took her by the arm and helped her swim back to shore.

"I'll be back," Skye muttered angrily to Chad. She stomped down the stairs as quickly as possible. When she saw Cedric standing, talking to Dumbledore, his back to her, she smacked him upside the head.

"What was that for?" he whined, turning around quickly and giving her a dirty look.

"So that's it?" she said. "You care about that slut more than anyone else?"

"Skye, will you..."

"I don't even matter to you anymore? Your friends aren't even..."

"...Skye, will you please..."

"Don't you start this! Just tell me the truth!"

Cedric grabbed her shoulders to hold her still; she looked as if she was going to throw a punch. "That was the point," he said softly.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"That was the point," he continued. "They believed us. They believed that I cared for Cho. You see, I could never care about anyone in the world more than you, but if the organizers thought that I cared for Cho more then they wouldn't put you in danger."

Skye stared at him, shock on her face.

"That's why I asked her to the Ball. When we discovered what the egg meant, I knew right away that they would take you away. I could never let them do that, I knew I had to lie. I want you to know that it destroyed me on the inside but please, forgive me, I did it for you, I..."

Cedric's words were cut off by Skye's lips as she threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him.

"I missed you so much," she said, beginning to cry on his shoulder. "I understand, just please, never ever scare me like that again. I missed you so much, I missed you so much..."

"Shh..." Cedric muttered, as he ran his fingers through Skye's hair. "It's ok now. It's over now. We can be back together, like how we used to. It was worth it to have you back, and to have you safe."

Skye looked up at him, nodding and smiling. Cedric wiped her tears away. "No more tears, ok?" Skye nodded. "It's ok now."

Skye squeezed him tighter, still crying. "It just hurt so much, I still loved you, I didn't think I could go on without you!"

"I could never kiss Chang. She's just so gross!"

Skye laughed, and smiled at him. "I know."

The two of them snapped out of their trances with each other when Dumbledore began to announce the winners of the task. "The judges have deliberated, and thanks to his effective use of the Bubble-Head Charm, we award Cedric Diggory with first place honors!"

Cedric and Skye began jumping up and down, screaming in excitement. Skye threw her arms around Cedric, and whispered in his ear: "Let's go inside and celebrate."

Cedric's eyes widened as he let go of the hug to lead Skye towards one of the boats that would lead them back to the castle.

- - -

"I love you," Skye muttered to Cedric. They were currently in the Room of Requirement, and Skye had her head rested on Cedric's muscular chest, breathing heavily after their love-making.

"I love you too," Cedric said, smiling down at Skye.

"Nothing will ever tear us apart ever again, right?"

"It's you, and me, and all of the people and I don't why I can't take my eyes off of you!" Cedric sang softly.

"Aww," Skye reached up and gave him a kiss.

"I think it's because you're so beautiful."

Skye sighed a loving sigh. "Well, you're just so damn handsome, yourself."

Cedric laughed, but his laughing ceased when he heard the door creak open. Skye scrambled under the covers, trying to hide herself from view.

"Oh, it's just you," Cedric said. Skye slowly peered from under the covers, smiling when she saw Chad and Lee standing at the doorway.

"We were just, err..." Chad stuttered.

"It's ok," Skye said, laughing lightly. "Just let me put some pants on and you can have the room all to yourself."

- - -

"NEWTs are approaching, Miss Cunningham, and they are far more important than your boyfriend!" Professor McGonagall scolded as Skye giggled as Cedric teased her underneath the table.

"Yes ma'am..." Skye said, rolling her eyes when Professor McGonagall turned around.

"As I was saying, now that NEWTs are but a couple weeks away, and we are so far behind, homework will be kept at a maximum. For tonight; questions 1 through 60 on page 392 and questions 20 through 40 on page 394. You are dismissed."

With a collective groan, there was a racket created as everyone pulled their chairs up and exited out of the room, whining as they stomped towards their common rooms.

"So, tell me about this third task."

"Well, Bagman brought us to the Quidditch pitch, and I couldn't help but be taken aback when he showed us that there were these massive hedges growing in our pitch! Apparently, the third task is through this maze...all sorts of obstacles, I even heard rumors of a sphinx!"

Skye stared at him in shock. "Well, I'm sure you could take it on."

"With you by my side, I know I can."

Skye grinned at him and gave him a quick kiss. Her and Cedric had now been back together for three months on Saturday, and she couldn't be happier. They had fully enjoyed the three months, never stopping appreciating each other and constantly creating unforgettable moments. Skye gave Cedric's hand a quick squeeze as they headed down the stairs towards the Common Room, ready to start their Transfiguration homework together.

"Hey," Cedric said, stopping them outside the portrait.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to let you know how much I love you."

"I love you, too," Skye said, smiling up at him.

"I mean it!"

"I mean it too!"

"And I've never loved anyone other than you, and I never will."

- - -

**A/N: **Shitty ending but...THEY'RE BACK TOGETHER! And that's the most important fact of all. I've always liked the story so much better when they're together...


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: **I like cough syrup.

_And I believe this may call for a proper introduction, and well  
Don't you see, I'm the narrator and this is just the prologue_

Swear to shake it up, if you swear to listen  
Oh, we're still so young, desperate for attention  
I aim to be your eyes, trophy boys, trophy wives

-Panic! at the Disco. Song: The only difference between suicide and martyrdom is press coverage.

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter twenty-four: I aim to be...

Cedric and Skye sat together in Defense Against the Dark Arts, scribbling violently as they attempted to complete their quiz in time.

"Time's up!" Professor Moody growled. "Hand in your tests and pack up your stuff. I'll see you all on Monday."

Skye swung her bag over her shoulder and quickly shoved her books into it, eager to get to lunch. She brought her test to the front of the classroom and headed toward the door.

"You," Moody growled. "Stay here. I'm not done with you."

Skye stopped abruptly, rolling her eyes before turning around.

"See you at lunch," Skye muttered to Cedric over her shoulder before strutting to Moody's desk.

"Sit," he said, flicking his wand and creating a chair. Skye paused before taking a seat in the chair, watching as Moody paced. He flicked his hip-flask open and took a swig of its contents as his blue eye swivelled in its socket, absorbing the room.

"So..." he began, his blue eye first looking at her face, then her bag, then her wrist, then back to her face. "So..."

"Yes, sir?"

"What do you think of Cedric in the third task, eh?"

"Well I'm proud of him, he's in first, and..."

"But it's dangerous!" Moody said loudly, cutting Skye off. "People have gotten killed in that maze!" Moody stopped pacing, and began leaning into Skye, the strong smell of something raunchy emitting off of him. "He is in grave danger! Do you realize what you could be doing letting him do this? You could be killing him!"

"Err...well..."

"You have to think of his safety before his pride! The first two tasks were fun and games but now, oh it's dangerous now."

"Worse than dragons?"

"FAR WORSE!" he snapped, causing Skye to fall backwards from her chair. "You need to be scared! Death is possible! Is that what you want?"

"No," she muttered, standing up and pulling the chair with her.

"Well then, you're dismissed."

- - -

"Please, Cedric, you have to listen to me, he said it's more difficult than dragons!"

Cedric and Skye sat together in the library. He was trying to help her get some last minute Charms studying in before the exam; he was exempt because of the tournament.

"I entered this for a reason, Skye. This is it, this is my big chance, I'm not going to lose my pride over it. I entered this knowing it was going to be dangerous."

"Ced, you've always been the one with common sense in this relationship. Use it!"

"I trust Professor Dumbledore. I trust that he has this protected and that he will make sure no one gets injured."

"I know, I know, but there's still risk!"

Cedric placed his hand gently on Skye's cheek and massaged it with his thumb.

"I'm more scared then you are. Please, just support me. Please."

Skye brushed off an oncoming tear. "All right."

"Now, let's get some work done. What is the incantation for a hair-growing charm?"

- - -

The next evening, after Skye's charms exam was over, she plopped down next to Cedric in the chintz armchair by the fire in the common room.

"How was it?" he asked.

"All right," Skye replied. "The written went average, a few I couldn't answer. The practical went great; the only time I messed up was when the examiner asked me to perform a nonverbal Aqua Erupto charm but instead I set his sleeve on fire..."

Cedric smiled at her from the corner of his mouth.

"Let's celebrate!" Skye said, standing up and sitting on Cedric's lap.

"Don't you have to study for Potions tomorrow?"

"It's Potions. You're more important."

They both stood and Cedric grabbed Skye by the wrist, leading her up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. After making sure there was no one in there, he closed the door behind him and, with a _'click',_ he locked the door. She immediately threw her arms around him and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. She threw him onto his bed and ripped his shirt off, revealing his chiseled yet slightly scarred chest from his encounter with the dragon. She kissed down the longest scar that lead down his stomach before taking him away to passion.

- - -

NEWT week crawled by, every day more painful than the last. Wednesday was Skye's Potions exam which Skye felt she had received an 'Outstanding' on; Thursday was History of Magic in the morning which Skye felt she had received a 'Troll' on and Astronomy in the afternoon and evening which she was questionable about; Monday was a messy Transfiguration exam; Tuesday was Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy to tie up her exams.

"I am officially done school," Skye said to Cedric as they sat outside to celebrate exams being over. "I no longer have to study, or take notes. No longer do I have to deal with Snape, or any of that. I'm done. This is weird."

"Next stop is the working world."

"Oh, don't remind me!" Skye said, giving a shiver. "I still don't know what I want to do."

"I thought you wanted to work in my dad's office!"

"I changed my mind."

"What's wrong with my dad, eh?" Cedric said, grabbing Skye by the sides and tickling her. "Not a good enough boss?"

Skye giggled loudly. "Stop it!" she cried, giving a squeal. "Stop tickling me!"

"I don't think I will."

Skye kicked and laughed uncontrollably. "Stop it, I can't breathe, I can't breathe!"

As soon as Cedric stopped tickling her she launched on top of him and tickled him in revenge.

"Ok, ok, you win!" he declared, when he was out of breath. She lay on top of him, running her fingers through his hair, moving up and down with his breathing.

"I've been thinking," Cedric said.

"About?"

"Well, spare our...temporary setback...we've been together for five years. That's a long time."

"Yeah."

"And we're almost out of school. We're both of age now."

"And?"

"I'm going to assume that we're never going to be with anyone else, other than each other."

"Of course not!" Skye said.

"Well...I ...Skye, what I'm trying to get at is, once we get our priorities straight and our jobs figured out and our housing all done and all that; we should get married."

"Married?" Skye asked, shocked.

"It's too soon, isn't it?"

"It's perfect!"

Cedric reached over beside him, picked a flower and wrapped it around Skye's ring finger.

"Consider this a promise ring," he said. "It isn't much, but I don't have any money so..."

"It's perfect, just like everything!"

- - -

George stood, leaning on a tree, watching Skye and Cedric. He couldn't help but feel a tug at his heartstrings every time he saw the two of them together.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked off. He always felt upset about Skye and Cedric being together, knowing he lied to her, but he refused to ever say anything to Skye about how he felt; they were so happy together...

- - -

**A/N: **I really like cough syrup :)


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: **Well...the news is in. Blue Roses is almost done; only a few chapters left. Appreciate it more now, hmm? Oh, and just to let you know, say Chad's lines to yourself with a gay accent; it makes them way funnier.

_Oh, well imagine, as I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor,  
and I can't help but to hear, no I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words:  
"What a beautiful wedding! What a beautiful wedding!" says a bridesmaid to a waiter.  
"And yes, but what a shame, what a shame, the poor groom's bride is a whore."_

I'd chime in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door!"  
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality.  
I'd chime in, "Haven't you people ever heard of closing a goddamn door!"  
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of...

-Panic! at the disco. Song: I write sins not tragedies.

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter twenty-five: With a sense of poise and rationality.

Skye and Cedric walked hand-in-hand towards the Quidditch pitch. Cedric was staring straight forward in concentration, muttering incantations under his breath, and Skye was shaking slightly.

"I'm nervous," he mumbled.

"Don't...don't be," Skye said, trying to reassure him. "It'll be fine."

"Yeah."

"And don't forget what happens if you win!"

"One thousand Galleons. Wow."

Cedric smiled down at Skye and gave her a quick kiss before she headed up the stairs into the stands.

Skye shuffled into a seat on Chad's right and gripped the armrests.

"Where did you get that rock from?" he squealed excitedly, pointing at Skye's finger.

"It's from Cedric," she said, looking down at Cedric, who was pacing down on the pitch. "He gave it to me last night. It's our official engagement ring."

"It's gorgeous!" Chad said, examining it. It was a ten-karat white gold band that had a large diamond surrounded by small sapphires. "And congratulations! WOW! You're gonna get married! Ok, I think I should be the planner. Can you say candles? Ok, we're gonna need candles, ROSES! Oh, I know you love roses how do rose petals sound? And your dress; classical white, of course, I'm thinking strapless or maybe a halter, halter would be nice do you like the sound of a veil? Or is it too 'I'm at a funeral'? Help me out here, Skye, I need answers!"

Skye was busy staring at Cedric, who was now huddled in to Ludo Bagman as he gave him whispered instructions. Cedric had a stern, focused look on his face that she had never seen before. It read no fear; just concentration on the task ahead.

"Yeah, Chad, yeah," she mumbled.

- - -

Cedric stood at the entrance to the maze, standing beside Harry, staring out into the audience. His eyes swooped over his peers and a few people he didn't recognize. He saw Skye, sitting high in the center. They made eye contact, and she mouthed _"I love you,"_ which Cedric returned. He smiled at her quickly, before turning to the maze.

He felt a strong breeze come at him from the mouth of the maze. He drowned out the sound of the crowd and the announcer explaining the task and only listened to the sound of the maze, waiting for any clues on what was ahead.

He heard a bang behind him, causing him to jump, and he ran straight into the maze, hearing the entrance close off the sound of the cheering crowd as it closed. He slowed down to a walk when he realized that running would no longer do him any help, and chose to listen for anything spare the sound of cracked twigs that Harry and himself stepped on. Ahead, he saw a fork in the maze, neither path seeming very promising.

"Well, this is where we part," Cedric said.

"Yeah. I'll see you later."

Cedric stared at the path to the left and gulped before jogging slowly down the never ending path between the hedges.

- - -

Skye slumped in her chair after the entrance to the maze closed up. It was hopeless now; the only way Cedric could turn back is if he were to shoot up red sparks, and she knew he could never do that.

After about two minutes, the entrance opened up and Viktor entered. Thirty seconds later, Fleur entered.

"I can't believe he's doing this," Skye said to Chad. "I can't believe he wouldn't get out of it. Sphinxes, blast-ended skrewts...oh, the possibilities!"

"Oh, don't worry. With the new red spark rule, if anything goes wrong, the teachers can be there in a flash. And now that you're talking, wedding preparations! I'm thinking about the dress you should wear. It has to be a stunner, somehow better than the Yule Ball dress. And who are the bridesmaids going to be? Can I be a bridesmaid, or..."

Skye nodded, trying to pay attention as most of her focus went to watching every aspect of the maze, awaiting any news on Cedric.

- - -

"_Avifors!_" Cedric said, as he jinxed the rear end of the Blast-Ended Skrewt, causing it to roll over onto it's back, it's many legs kicking in the air. Cedric ran past it, pausing to clutch a stitch in his side when he was out of harms way. He walked on and reached another fork in the road. He chose the right path, figuring taking the left path might lead him in circles.

There was literally a large, gaping hole in the path, with a pole that went across between the top of the two hedges. He stepped up to the edge, peering down into the inevitable darkness. He turned around and found himself facing a hedge wall. He turned back to the hole. He sent ropes out of his wand, and they wrapped around the pole. He tightened the grip on his wand and jumped, swinging across the hole.

- - -

Skye stood up in the stands, her eyes darting from side to side.

"What's wrong?" Chad asked, being taken aback.

Skye paused, looking side to side for a second before slowly sitting down. "Girlfriend's intuition."

- - -

Once Cedric cleared the hole he ran on, feeling a second wind come over him after his daring moment. He ran on, taking corner after corner, never reaching a dead end nor a challenge. He slowed down after running for a few minutes, and he suddenly realized how dark it was. He stopped and spun around, beginning to panic.

"Skye, why can't you be here? You'd know the right way to go!"

- - -

Skye jumped up from her chair again, looking on into the maze.

"Will you stop that?" Chad said.

"He's lost," Skye said.

"How do you do that?"

"Go where your heart takes you," Skye mumbled before sitting down again.

- - -

Cedric reached into his robes and pulled out a picture of Skye. In the picture, she gave a jovial wave to him. Cedric smiled at the picture, and looked out ahead of him, running in the direction that felt best.

He saw roots shoot from the floor of the maze and they shot violently at him, making him jump back. They began to attack him from all angles so he ran forward as fast as he could. He made a quick right and then, in the distance, glinting in the sunlight, there it was.

The cup.

Cedric lengthened his stride, and evil grin on his face knowing that he had finally done it.

He was going to win.

Suddenly, Krum jumped out at him from one of the hedges, pointing his wand at Cedric.

"_Crucio_."

Cedric fell to the ground, twitching violently. He felt pain course through his entire body as it contorted in ways he didn't think possible. He screamed loudly, willing himself to die.

"_Expelliarmus!_"

Cedric took a deep breath in when he said Harry standing, his wand before him, having cut through the hedge to attack Krum, who was now lying on the ground.

"You alright?" Harry asked, as he breathed heavily.

"Yeah," Cedric breathed.

Harry jumped back quickly. "Look out!"

Cedric turned around in time to be attacked by a giant spider.

- - -

Skye stood up again, covering her mouth as she screamed.

"Ok, please tell me that you have ants in your pants or something because this is creeping me out."

"He's in danger!" Skye said, getting out of her seat and walking towards the stairs.

"Will you stop it..."

"Excuse me," Skye said, as she shuffled pass people. "Excuse me, excuse...GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!"

The people in the row grumbled as the pulled their legs up to let her pass. She took the stairs two at a time, trying to get to the bottom as quickly as possible.

- - -

"_Stupefy!_" Cedric said hopelessly to the spider, which had now attacked Harry.

"_Stupefy!_" Harry and Cedric said the incantation at the same time, which seemed to do the trick. The spider rolled over onto it's back, revealing it's soft belly.

Cedric took a step towards the cup, reaching out with his arm before dropping it to his side.

"You get it," he said to Harry. "You saved me."

"No way! You were here first."

"Go on, just get it!"

"Cedric, please..."

"Harry! Get it before I change my mind!"

"Together."

- - -

Skye ran on to the pitch, being grabbed and dragged back by Professor McGonagall.

"Stay back!" she scorned.

"NO!" Skye cried. "He's in danger, he's in trouble!"

"He'll do fine..."

"LET ME GO!"

- - -

Cedric and Harry ran to the cup together. Harry reached his arm out, but Cedric kept his arm to his side.

"Enough with your pride," Harry said. "We're doing this together, a win for Hogwarts together."

"I can't!" Cedric said. "I didn't win rightfully."

"Come on, Cedric!"

- - -

Skye squirmed out of Professor McGonagall's grip, running to Professor Dumbledore and shaking him.

"Get him out of here! He's in danger, I know it!"

Dumbledore just stared off into the maze, chuckling.

- - -

Cedric's arm reached out for the cup, then he dropped it to his side.

"Come on Cedric!" Harry shouted, pointing to the path. "Before something else gets us."

"I don't know what to do," Cedric mumbled.

"What?"

"I don't what to do!"

"Just grab the cup, it's 500 galleons, come on!"

Cedric imagined the sort of house Skye and himself could buy with 500 galleons (not the nicest, but something) and how it could help jumpstart their adult lives.

"Ok!"

Cedric began reaching out towards the cup slowly; he almost felt the cold metal brush his fingers...

- - -

"NO!" Skye shouted, pulling at Professor Dumbledore's robes. "NO!"

- - -

**A/N: **Cliffhanger. I liked this chapter because of the changing POV...and hopefully, you do too! R & R!


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N:** 100 reviews! WOW! Thank you so much guys, you have no idea how much I appreciate all your reviews, they really up my ante. 100 reviews...I can't get over this! Thank you all so much! Really!

_If you have to go don't say goodbye  
If you have to go don't you cry   
If you have to go I will get by  
Someday I'll follow you and see you on the other side_ . . .

-Smashing Pumpkins. Song: For Martha.

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter twenty-six: Don't go.

Cedric grasped the handle of the cup and instantly felt a jerk right below his navel. He closed his eyes tightly as the cup, Harry and he spun quickly through the air, passing what felt like city after city and town after town. Without notice, he was dropped onto the ground.

He slowly sat up and picked up his wand. He stood up slowly and wearily, brushing the grass off his legs.

"Did you know the cup was a Portkey?" he asked Harry.

"No..."

"Well, wands at the ready, then."

Cedric took a weary step forward, listening for any sound of movement. He realized he was in a graveyard, where it was the dark of night. The graveyard looked as if it hadn't been visited for ages. He heard a rustling to the left, and whipped himself around.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

There were footsteps approaching him, and he saw a cloaked figure that seemed to be carrying a bundle of robes.

"Who are you?"

"_Kill the spare_," a cold, high-pitched voice demanded.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

- - -

Skye stopped screaming. She looked around her, her eyes darting from left to right. She felt a chill go up her spine.

"P...professor Dumbledore...some...some...something's not right..."

Dumbledore's eyes dimmed as if he felt it as well.

"Wait here," he said, pushing her back by the shoulder as he walked briskly into the maze. Skye chose not to follow him; the maze didn't seem too promising.

She slowly lowered herself onto the soft grass, shaking in the process. She buried her head in her hands, rubbing her eyes as she tried to focus.

"_You're being stupid!"_ she thought. _"He's fine, you're just being neurotic!"_

"_But what if you're not being stupid? What if he is in trouble?"_ a small voice reminded her.

She shook her head violently. Nothing was wrong. Nothing...

Or was it?

- - -

Dumbledore returned a few minutes later, shaking his head. Skye stood up to question him, but he just kept shaking his head.

Skye jumped when she heard a _'clang'_ behind her. She whipped around and saw Harry, who was weeping, with the cup in one hand and Cedric's limp form in the other.

"Cedric?" Skye mumbled. Cedric didn't move.

"Cedric?" her face drained of all color as she threw herself beside him, feeling the grass scrape her knees.

"Cedric," she said, putting her hands on his shoulders and shaking him. "Get up Cedric."

He still didn't move.

"Cedric, get up now!"

People had begun to crowd around them, gossiping between each other.

"CEDRIC!"

Skye shook Cedric violently, but he still didn't move. She put his hands on his chest and began pumping up and down, trying to get a heartbeat.

"CEDRIC!" she cried, falling on top of him. "CEDRIC!"

"Come on, Skye, get up," someone said.

"CEDRIC! NO! NO! NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

The crowd parted and Amos passed through, horror-stricken to see his son lying, dead.

"My boy," he whispered. "MY BOY!"

"Skye, get up, we can't stay here..."

"CEDRIC!" she screamed, ignoring the hands that had grabbed her shoulders. "NO! CEDRIC! NO!"

"Skye, we have to go..."

Amos sat beside Skye, his head in his hands as he wept over the loss of his son.

"Skye we have to..." the voice pressed on.

Skye whipped around. "FUCK OFF!" she shouted through tears before throwing herself on Cedric again, wrapping her arms around him.

"I won't let you go..." she whispered into his ear.

- - -

Skye sat in a large, comfortable chair in Dumbledore's office, shaking like a leaf. She was alone in the room, but she still felt even more desperate and alone inside. She felt as if she had died with Cedric. She held herself tighter, trying to squeeze the life out of herself so she could be with him.

She put her hand on the left side of her chest, and swore she couldn't feel a heartbeat before dismissing it as a figure of her imagination.

She heard the door being slowly pried open behind her and jumped, spinning around, grabbing her wand and holding it in front of her.

"Jumpy?" Dumbledore asked, standing in the doorway. "Relax. You're going to be here for a while."

Skye's shoulders sunk as she pushed herself back into the chair. Dumbledore walked forward and placed himself in the chair before her that was behind his desk.

"I spoke to Harry," he said calmly.

"And?" said Skye, shortly.

"We know our culprit."

"And?" Skye repeated, her voice rising.

"It was Lord Voldemort."

Skye gave a jump back at the mention of his name. "V...v...You-Know-Who did it?"

Dumbledore nodded solemnly.

"But I thought..." Skye stuttered.

"As did I."

"But...this makes no sense! I'm so confused!"

Skye threw her face into her hands, rubbing her eyes with the tips of her fingers. Dumbledore stood and began pacing through his study.

"I believe," he began. "I believe this has to do with your prophecy."

Skye stopped rubbing her eyes and lifted her face out of her hands to reveal her shocked face.

"It...does?"

"I believe it said that..."

"...'_This is her fate; she whom is the lone daughter of Severus Snape, born in the waning of Summer during times of great peril, will be the one who changes the fate of our kind. It shall be she who chooses whether the ones to prevail will be light or darkness; this is her fate.'_"

"During times of great peril...yes, it all makes sense."

Dumbledore walked over to his window and rested his aged hands on the bottom of the frame, opening the window and letting a warm breeze into the room.

"Voldemort," he began, making Skye shiver at his name, "has returned. Thanks to blood from Harry, the bones of his deceased father and the flesh of his slave, Peter Pettigrew, he has been brought back. Voldemort, if you have not discovered it by this point, is very special. Very, very special.

"If a person wishes to, they can go through a process of splitting their soul."

"They can split their soul? Right through the middle? Why? And how?"

"Simple. They must kill someone first, because if you kill someone your soul is not fully intact anyway, and you perform a complicated charm to take a split piece of your soul out of your body and you place it in something known as a Horcrux."

Skye nodded. She had never heard of a Horcrux, but she wanted to find out how Voldemort splitting his soul into pieces could relate to her.

"Voldemort split his soul into several pieces. He has stored the parts of his soul in different objects that have a great meaning to him."

"How many is several?"

"I don't know yet. I only very recently discovered the news about the Horcruxes myself, and it is not a subject that is easily researched. I do know that one of the Horcrux is this."

Dumbledore reached on top of one of his shelves and pulled down an old, torn diary. It had a large puncture would in the middle of it.

"What's this?" Skye asked, taking it from him and examining it.

"It is his diary, from when he was a student here. Harry destroyed it when he was in his second year."

Skye paused, thinking. "That was the year the Chamber of Secrets was opened!"

"Correct! It was Voldemort who opened the Chamber, using that diary. Part of his soul was alive in that diary. That is the reason that Voldemort was returned to power today. Part of his soul lives within these Horcruxes, and he just needed someone to bring him back to life. Pettigrew was just the person."

Dumbledore began pacing again, his pace becoming more rapid.

"He chose to have Harry's blood used in the potion because this way Harry is no longer protected from him. The protection Harry's mother gave to him when she died is no longer apt for Voldemort has injured Harry, and has Harry's blood running through his petty veins!

"This is where you come in, Skye. Harry and Voldemort will, inevitably, have a battle for the ages one day. But Harry cannot do this by himself. He is but one under-age wizard and though he has bravery beyond his years he does not have the education or talent to destroy Voldemort alone. He will need someone by his side in case something goes wrong. He will need you, Skye. Someone older, someone wiser."

"Why can you not do it, Professor Dumbledore?"

"I have my part in the story, as well. But this is not it. It will be either Harry or yourself who destroys Voldemort in the end."

"It will be sweet revenge," Skye said, a twinkle of vengeance in her eyes.

"You will have help," Dumbledore said. "I will be recalling the Order of the Phoenix to help. Voldemort's progress must be tracked, we must watch his every move to predict the future. You will be notified at a later date the whereabouts of the Order but for now, I believe the Ministry wizards will be shortly arriving. You are dismissed."

Skye slowly rose from her chair, walking towards the door.

"Professor Dumbledore?"

"Yes, Skye?"

"When I am done school, should I begin looking for the Horcruxes, sir?"

"You may begin at whatever time you find most fit for you."

"Ok, sir. I will write."

Skye opened the door slowly and exited Dumbledore's office, leaving him scratching his chin as he began pacing the room once again.

- - -

**A/N: **...read and review, I suppose.


	27. Chapter 27

_Oh, Life is waiting for you  
It's all messed up, but we're alive  
Oh, Life is waiting for you  
It's all messed up, but we'll survive_

-Our Lady Peace. Song: Life.

**Blue Roses.**

Chapter twenty-seven: The beginning.

Skye sat in the first pew for Cedric's funeral, a handkerchief in one hand and Chad's hand in the other. Her face was strewn with tears as she stood to address the small group of close friends and family that had attended the funeral. She walked slowly to the front of the room, her heels clicking softly as she went. She turned to the audience, slowly pulling a cue card from her pocket.

"Cedric was a great man," she began, reading off the card. "Oh screw it!" she said, taking the card and ripping it into pieces. "I only wrote this crap because I was afraid that I'd forget what I was saying.

"You can't forget when it comes to a person like him. It's a crime that I knew him so well and took away his love from all of you. He was the greatest person that has ever lived. He knew exactly the right words to say and when to say them. He was the greatest of friends, the greatest of boyfriends, the greatest of people.

"He was the epitome of a Hufflepuff, though he was brave enough to be a Gryffindor and wise enough to be a Ravenclaw. He was the kindest of all hearts, never seeing anyone as a lesser to himself. If you were in a rut, he was there to pull you out of it. If you were upset over something, he was there to give you a hug and tell you that everything was going to be OK. You were always his number one priority.

"He was the greatest of friends. He was loyal, so loyal, always kept to his word. He was always there for you. He was never mean; never said a demurring word, only things that would make you proud to be alive. He was always honest. He had this way of making you seem like a better person, just because you got to be around him.

"I find that his greatest trait was finding the good in people even when they couldn't find the good within themselves. No matter if you've made a screw-up that enrages everyone he doesn't mind, he'd remind you what was good that could come out of it. He'd then tell a joke that would make him smile, and that would make you smile, and your day just went from awful to a hell of a lot better. I'm sure that people outside his tight group saw him as a 'pretty boy', or 'Mr. Perfect', or whatever; but it's just because they never really got to know Cedric and, in truth, he was perfect. I was blessed to get to know him so well, and to have him love me back the way he did. He really cared about me. I hate to say it, but there was no one like him, and there never will be anyone like him.

"I remember, after the first task, the time we spent apart so that he could save me from having to go down into the depths of that black lake. I would've rather been at the depths of that lake then be apart from him, for I was in the depths of my own lake being apart from him for those few months. I didn't think I could pass by for a few months without just looking at that bright smile; now I have to try and survive the rest of my life. He always said that 'Everything happens for a reason', so I guess this happened for some sick and twisted reason.

"I want you to all stop and take a moment to think of the way that Cedric has touched your life. Bow your heads and take a moment to think of him. I'm sure we could spend a million moments thinking of how he's affected us, but just take the time to think of just one. You there!"

Skye pointed to a relative, sitting in the pew in the farthest back. "How did Cedric affect you?"

The man stood slowly and nervously. "Well," he said, his voice squeaky, "once when he was over visiting, I had just gotten a divorce from my wife, and he sat and listened to me talk about the separation for hours. He was always there to support me when I felt down..."

The man sat quickly, tears pouring from his eyes.

"And you!" Skye said, pointing to a Ravenclaw boy she had seen Cedric talking to once or twice. "How did Cedric affect you?"

"Without him, I would've failed my Charms OWL. He barely knew me, yet he helped me perfect the summoning charm which gave me an 'A' on the OWL."

"Excuse me, but I have a story about Cedric," a little old lady said, standing and resting on her cane. "Last summer, my favorite cat Marmalade got outside and got herself stuck in a tree. Cedric climbed into that tree and even though he got clawed half to death he still got little Marmalade out of the tree and safe for me."

"There was this girl I really liked," Milo said, standing up. "That only Cedric knew about. He encouraged me to ask the girl to the Yule Ball, and thanks to him, I'm still dating the girl!"

"Cedric listened to my side of the story when no one else would!" Casey said, standing up as well. "When everyone was against me, he listened to me, believed me. He got me through it. Without him, I probably would've left school."

"I couldn't afford a new wand," an unfamiliar person said. "He didn't know me, he just saw me in the store and he gave me the money so I could pay for it."

"He saved my marriage!"

"He saved my life!"

"He was there when I stood alone!"

"He was the only one brave enough to tell me what a dick my boyfriend really was!"

"He taught me how to play Quidditch when everyone was too frustrated to deal with me!"

"He read to me every day when I was sick!"

"He taught my daughter how to ride horses, and he even let her ride his own horse!"

"He made me smile even though I just got dumped by the love of my life!"

"You see?" Skye said, when a good portion of the people at the funeral were standing. "Cedric has affected all of you in one way or another. When you are feeling down, think of him, and how he would've made you feel better. When you're feeling happy, think of his bright smile and how it would light the way. When you're confused, think of what Cedric would do, because to me, it was always the most logical way. When you're angry, think of something that Cedric would say to cool you down. Always think of Cedric, the greatest boy to ever have lived. Lest we forget."

- - -

Skye sat alone at the final breakfast. She slowly munched on eggs, putting her fork down after only eating a little. She stood up and walked out of the Great Hall, disappointed at the final meal.

She saw Harry Potter walking a little ways ahead of her, and she pulled a parchment out of her bag.

"Harry!" she called. "Harry!" she repeated, after he didn't listen the first time. Harry turned around and Skye jogged to him.

"Write to me," she said softly, placing the piece of parchment in his hand. She then walked briskly towards her Common Room, leaving Harry slightly confused.

- - -

Skye sat before the Black Lake, tears pooling in her eyes. She remembered in first year the times Brayden, Cedric and herself had spent by this lake. She remembered how, in second year, Cedric and herself would come to the lake to finish their homework but would always spend their time just watching the lake. She remembered in third year how they would lie together by the lake, watching the sun set, every Saturday. She remembered in fourth year how they would hide here, by the lake, away from everyone and everything that happened within their school. She remembered in fifth year how they'd come to the lake to get homework done away from all the commotion, even in the coldest winter evenings. She remembered in sixth year how they'd sit and admire the water and discuss everything; their past, present and future. That, she believed, was their greatest year together.

She let Tia, her cat, out of her cage. Tia jumped up onto Skye's lap and Skye slowly ran her fingers through Tia's sleek fur.

She furrowed her brows at the thought of the Horcruxes. Where on earth were they, and what on earth were they? She might have to comb the entire face of England to find them, and what if there's one in Ireland? Or France? Or Bulgaria? Luxembourg, the Netherlands...they could be anywhere. She would have to comb all of Europe.

She stared down at Tia, feeling hopeless. Cedric would know what to do. Cedric would probably know where all the Horcruxes were. She wiped a tear away as she thought of Cedric, a look of stern focus on his face as he flipped through book after book in the library, searching for the possible whereabouts of the Horcruxes; he would be helping her, regardless of the fact that it had nothing to do with her.

She looked up and stared at the motionless surface of the lake, wondering to herself; where was she going to live? How was she going to get a job? Where should she begin looking? What was she going to do without Cedric? And of course, most importantly, she wondered...

What was next?

- - -

THE END

- - -

**A/N: **I'd like to thank all my readers, my reviewers, you guys are FABULOUS! Thanks to Darcy, Katie and Rachel for giving me advice and ideas when I'm in a rut; not to mention you guys review every chapter! I'd like to thank my friends for always being there and my family for everything they've done. I'd like to thank Blue, my horse, for always listening to me rant on about my next chapter and never complaining. I'd like to thank FanFiction for creating such an amazing website and A-Z Lyrics for providing me with all my lyrics which started most of my songs. I'd like to thank QuotationsPage for giving me all my beautiful quotes. I'd like to thank the bands which gave me the fantastic songs that opened my chapters, and they are: Coldplay, blink-182, A-Teens, Bayside, Pink Floyd, Mariah Carey (whom I actually hate, except for her one song), Dashboard Confessional, Green Day, Maroon 5, Lifehouse, Oasis, Murder by Death, Billy Talent, Smashing Pumpkins, Fall Out Boy, The Spill Canvas, Panic! At the disco and Our Lady Peace. Other inspirational bands that I missed are Metric, Box Car Racer, Plus 44, Rilo Kiley, Led Zeppelin...etc. I'd like to thank my good friend Christine for giving me the opening poem for this which kind of inspired me, a little. I'd also like to thank Robert Pattinson; just for being there, and being so incredibly attractive, and inspiring me to do this all. I would like to thank, as my last but indubitably not least, Joanne Kathleen Rowling, the amazingly talented writer of the Harry Potter series. You are my hero, and I'd like to thank you for creating Cedric and all the wonderful work that you've done. Peace out, everyone!


End file.
